Is it back? B.C. Conservatives vow to build 10-lane Massey bridge

B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson said Thursday his government would revive a decade-old plan to build a 10-lane bridge between Richmond and Delta, citing years of mismanagement of the Massey Tunnel replacement project by the NDP.

Doerkson said he would scrap the NDP’s plan to build an eight-lane tunnel, even as early construction ramps up on the site. The tunnel plan, he said, has stalled repeatedly, hurt B.C.’s economy and made life miserable for commuters.

A bridge would cut commutes by up to 30 minutes and get goods moving more efficiently, he said.

“Families in the Lower Mainland are stuck in traffic every day because the NDP cancelled a bridge that should already be open,” Doerkson said in a news release. “My government will build it, on time and on budget.”

Earlier this year, the NDP government acknowledged that the cost of the tunnel replacement had reached $8.5 billion, more than double the original estimate of $4.15 billion from 2021.

The Conservative party said details about how much their bridge proposal would cost or when it would be completed will be released later in their platform. But the party insisted their proposal “would cost less, already has an environmental certificate, and will be built sooner using experts here in British Columbia.”

NDP Leader David Eby said starting from scratch at this stage is “lunacy.”

“There are 200 workers on the site of the tunnel beginning construction,” Eby said at a party press conference in Surrey. “You drive past, you can see the big metal structures going up. That’s the tunnel construction that’s underway.

“Now here we have the Conservative leader again. No plan. He’s going to cancel that, send all those workers home. Start from scratch with a new plan, new environmental assessment, new procurement, new contractors — I don’t know, years, two years, four years?”

One of the unions representing workers on the project called Doerkson’s idea of going back to the drawing board “reckless and wasteful.”

“If Doerkson is serious about this, he’s showing a fundamental lack of understanding on the procurement and construction of major infrastructure,” said Bryan Railton, business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115.

Railton also said scrapping the tunnel would put a $3 billion funding commitment from the federal government at risk.

The bridge announcement came a day after the Conservatives jumped on a memo leaked to CTV News this week suggesting the 2026 provincial budget hid a $4 billion cost overrun for the tunnel replacement.

In February, the NDP government’s budget said the Highway 99 tunnel was on track to cost $4.3 billion. But a memorandum from the premier’s office two months earlier warned the project’s cost had more than doubled.

“While the 2021 approved budget was $4.15 billion, B.C. now anticipates a project budget of $8.5 billion,” read the memo dated Dec. 11, 2025. “The project completion will also move from 2030 to 2031.” Despite the memo’s warning of a delay, Eby said Thursday that there is a “committed timeline” to finish the tunnel by 2030.

Doerkson said the NDP stuck with the lower figure for months, including during hours of debate in the legislature, and only revealed the doubled cost during the summer break.

“For over six months, David Eby lied to MLAs, journalists, and all British Columbians about the skyrocketing costs of his tunnel project,” said Trevor Halford, the Conservative candidate for Surrey-White Rock.

“What else is David Eby concealing from voters today as he tries to save his political skin?”

Eby countered that the delayed cost update was because of continuing negotiations with contractors.

“The B.C. NDP said at the time that there were commercial sensitivities around releasing updated costs while contract negotiations were underway, and that an updated estimate would be provided once the negotiations had concluded,” said a party spokesperson.

Delta Mayor George Harvie said he would happily support a bridge as long as things move quickly.

“I’ve stated many times that as mayor of Delta I’m agnostic to whatever the solution is, whether it’s a tunnel or a bridge,” said Harvie. “I’m just saying, ‘For god’s sake, get something done.'”

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who is not running for re-election, thinks it’s too late to turn back from the tunnel.

“It has gone on so long, it’s become a bit of a punchline,” said Brodie, who said he supports whatever can get done the quickest after the “inordinate delays” on the project. “In saying that, I have no doubt that the quickest solution for the situation is the tunnel.”

Christy Clark’s B.C. Liberal government announced a plan for a 10-lane bridge over the Fraser River in 2017, but it was scrapped when the NDP under John Horgan came to power. Doerkson said it took four years to revive the project in the form of an eight-lane tunnel, and progress has been slow ever since.

This summer, Eby’s government cancelled contracts for early works on the tunnel, further delaying the expected completion date.