Vancouver's Massey crossing: premier-designate pushes 10-lane bridge over $8.5B tunnel plan

B.C. premier-designate Lorne Doerkson says government briefings have left him more convinced than during the campaign that a 10-lane bridge is a cheaper, less risky replacement for the aging George Massey Tunnel than the eight-lane immersed-tube tunnel now in development. He has asked the outgoing NDP government to halt any tunnel work that could not be repurposed for a bridge.

A decade of bridge, then tunnel, then bridge again

The existing tunnel opened in 1959. It has four lanes with counterflow traffic, links Richmond and Delta, and is the bottleneck on Highway 99; it is seismically deficient and restricts dangerous goods and larger commercial vehicles. In 2013 the B.C. Liberal government announced a 10-lane bridge to replace it, priced at $3.5 billion, with construction to start in 2017 and completion in 2022. The NDP cancelled the bridge after taking office in 2017 and in 2021 chose an eight-lane immersed-tube tunnel, priced at $4.15 billion and targeted for 2030. In July 2026 the tunnel's cost rose to $8.5 billion and its opening was pushed to September 2031; the federal government pledged up to $3 billion toward the tunnel the same month.

The premier-designate's case — and the open questions

Doerkson says a bridge could save taxpayers about $2.5 billion. “The reality is we think we can save $2.5 billion; I'm convinced more now than I was during the campaign,” he said on Nov. 12. Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said in Delta on Oct. 30 that Ottawa supports in principle whatever crossing the premier chooses, including a bridge — but the $3-billion federal pledge was made for a tunnel, and no revised funding agreement has been announced. Doerkson said he has raised the crossing with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

No verified updated bridge cost, tender or construction start date exists, and the tunnel remains the documented procurement baseline. Site preparation around Deas Island has been under way since January 2026, but major tunnel construction has not started and the main contracts have not been awarded; in June 2026 the province ended its agreement with Cross Fraser Partnership, the consortium selected in 2024, after the two sides could not settle commercial terms.

What happens next

Three things will decide the crossing's future: whether the incoming government formally stops the tunnel procurement, whether Ottawa shifts its $3-billion pledge to a bridge, and when an updated bridge cost and timetable are published. Until then, Highway 99 commuters still face congestion at a 67-year-old tunnel.

(Cover image is a file photo of the Massey Tunnel replacement project site.)