The City of Pitt Meadows, B.C., is facing an unexpected financial crunch after being asked to contribute $50 million for a badly-needed rail underpass.
The project is meant to address traffic congestion on Harris Road where the route intersects Canadian Pacific Rail’s rail corridor.
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Rail traffic at the busy crossing results in about 3.5 hours of vehicle traffic stoppage per day, and is estimated to more than double in the coming decade.
The cost of the project was assessed in 2017 at $63.3 million, with no contribution from the city. Project costs have now more than tripled to over $190 million.
On Tuesday, the city heard a presentation from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority warning that without a contribution for $49.6 million from the city, the project could be at risk.
“We were not (originally) a funding partner,” Pitt Meadows Mayor Nicole MacDonald told Global News.
“So now to see the city of Pitt Meadows with residents of 20,000, less than 20,000, and a small business community, being asked for $50 million, it’s not sitting well with many of our residents.”
Pitt Meadows’ entire 2023 budget, approved in December, comes in at just $50 million.
MacDonald said the change puts the city in a difficult situation because the critical crossing is already facing challenging train-related delays.
The city is home to the second largest industrial park in B.C. and an Amazon distribution warehouse, she said, while CP has indicated it plans to move forward with a rail expansion regardless of whether the underpass is built.
“The current crossing is in the top three per cent riskiest rail crossings in the nation, it’s the second busiest in the Lower Mainland,” she said.
“Obviously safety and the health of our public remains number one. As well, you see the escalation of rail and truck traffic and vehicle traffic are going to have a significant effect on the living quality for our community members, economic viability, so we need a solution. We need an underpass.”
Devan Fitch, program director of Roberts Bank Terminal Two with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, told Global News the increased project cost was due to several factors.
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Construction costs have faced significant inflation in recent years, while there have been design code changes that now require the project to be built to a higher standard of seismic safety, he said.
The complexity of the project has also turned out to be higher than originally expected, he added.
“The 2017 estimate was a point in time estimate based on design measured in a few months, with very little stakeholder consultations and no side investigations,” Fitch said.
“We’ve seen over the four or five years a global pandemic, geopolitical instability affecting supply chains and rates of construction cost inflation that we quite frankly haven’t seen in many decades.”
Fitch said those cost pressures have been baked into the new project budget, and that the port authority was “confident” the new numbers were solid.
But he said the new project budget estimate was also time sensitive — and that due to inflation in the construction industry every additional month of delay would add an estimated $1 million to the total cost.
“The decision before us and the city of Pitt Meadows, is do they get the right level of benefit relative to the cost, and if the answer is yes, then we can move forward,” he said.
“And if the answer is no, then the project won’t go forward.”
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CP Rail declined an interview request, and referred questions to the port authority.
MacDonald said the city was now scrambling for a creative solution that will still see the crossing upgraded without leaving taxpayers with a financial burden they can’t afford.
She said the city was opposed to an overpass as an alternative, noting that while initial cost estimates were lower than the underpass they could still climb just as the underpass did once it was fully fleshed out.
She said an overpass would also leave the city on the hook for ongoing maintenance and insurance costs.
The city is now going to senior levels of government and Transport Canada looking for financial help.
If the city isn’t able to secure that funding, it will have to put the matter to a referendum among residents and businesses, she said.
“We are focused on finding solutions as we know this is critical infrastructure for our community,” MacDonald said.
“This isn’t a want, this is a need.”
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