Province nixes deal with contractor on George Massey Tunnel replacement

Province nixes deal with contractor on George Massey Tunnel replacement

$4.15-billion project is still on track, province says, with targeted completion date of 2030

The B.C. government is terminating its deal with the design-build consortium it had selected to replace the aging George Massey Tunnel beneath the Fraser River in Metro Vancouver, though it says the $4.15-billion project is still on track.

The Transportation Ministry issued a statement Monday saying the province could not reach agreement with Cross Fraser Partnership on the commercial terms for the final construction of the eight-lane tunnel connecting Richmond and Delta.

The province had been working with the consortium under a design and early works agreement since September 2024, and while the ministry said there has been "significant progress," the government was exercising a termination option.

Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth said B.C. had received "good value from the contractor" and made steady progress with design, but the province was taking the project back to a competitive process to seek the best value for taxpayers.

The ministry statement said B.C. would retender the work with a procurement strategy aimed at strengthening competition and allowing for more local contracts.

It said the revised strategy would divide the remaining work into several packages, allowing a broader range of qualified firms to bid on portions of the project.

"By design, our process has a pre-existing termination option in case we could not reach mutually acceptable terms. We are well placed to leverage improving market competitiveness," Farnworth said in the statement.

"We know the market is hungry for work on major infrastructure projects, and engagement with industry confirmed there is strong interest in competing for this project."

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A LinkedIn page for the Cross Fraser Partnership indicates it is made up of Bouygues Construction Canada, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas Canada and Pomerleau B.C. Representatives of the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The province said the tunnel had gone to market in 2023 as a single, large, progressive design-build procurement, and the revised model better reflects current market conditions, while ensuring continued momentum on the project.

Early construction work started in January, including tree clearing and utility relocations, and it would continue while procurement for future phases of the project is underway, the ministry statement said.

As a first step, it said requests would be issued to identify qualified proponents for key phases of the project.

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The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office is expected to complete its review of the project before the end of this year and major construction is set to start in 2027, it said.

The province announced its plan to replace the existing tunnel with a modern one in August 2021 with a target to open the new crossing in 2030.