Massey Tunnel replacement cost balloons to $11 billion, prompts calls for review
Delta councillor reveals staggering cost jump from original $2.9 billion estimate; province requesting federal bailout.
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The Massey Tunnel replacement project has seen its estimated cost more than triple to $11 billion, prompting fresh outcry from Delta council and fresh calls for an independent review of the troubled megaproject.
The explosive cost jump was revealed by Delta councillor Dylan Kruger, who also disclosed that the provincial government has recently requested up to $4 billion in contributions from the federal government—a figure that nearly matched the original entire project budget.
"This is a staggering number. This is a project that started at $2.9 billion. This has to be a political career-ender for some folks in Victoria," said Kruger, a mayoral candidate. "This is an absolute betrayal of the 100,000 commuters who use this crossing every day."
The announcement came just two days after Delta City Council unanimously greenlit an emergency motion pushing for an independent review examining the reasons negotiations with the design-build consortium broke down, the financial implications of terminating the existing procurement, total costs incurred to date, and revised budget and completion timeline.
Kruger said he has asked provincial officials for answers but received none. "I can't think of a bigger capital project failure than this one from this government," he said.