Get Moving BC

Light at the end of the Port Mann tunnel

Excitement built quickly on Monday when news began circulating that Peter Kiewit Sons Co. had been awarded the contract to build the new Port Mann Bridge. CKNW was first to report the news and they even contacted us here at Get Moving BC to see if we had heard anything concrete (note: pun intended).

A press release issued by the Ministry of Transportation yesterday has now provided some details about the news. And although no contract has been signed with Kiewit as of yet, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel for the vast majority of Lower Mainland residents who are patiently waiting for the bridge project to get underway.

As CKNW, the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province reported today, Connect BC Development Group (a development group which includes Peter Kiewit Sons Co.) has indeed been selected “to enter into negotiations with the provincial government for the Port Mann/Highway 1 project.” If contract negotiations are successful, a deal would likely be signed in the fall and construction would begin.

For supporters of the Port Mann Bridge project (and they far outnumber the detractors) this week’s news means it’s definitely time to put a few bottles of champagne on ice even if popping the cork this week would be premature. Good news is definitely on the way and it’s only a matter of time now before the rubber hits the road.

posted by Get Moving BC @ 2:23 PM