Canada’s Port Metro Vancouver has completed the first of nine construction projects that it says will both ease traffic congestion in the area and help the port build up its infrastructure to support increased trade with Asia.
The $24 million 41B Street overpass, which gives truckers and local commuters a crossing route to cross Deltaport Way without being delayed by long trains and truck traffic, is the first of nine projects to be completed as part of the port’s $307 million Roberts Bank Rail Corridor Program.
The RBRCP is funded by the port along with 11 other public and private partners, including the federal Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry, BNSF Railway and a number of local and regional governments.
It’s comprised of eight new overpasses and one railway siding; all nine projects are currently in various stages of development, with each expected to be finished by March 2014.
“With the completion of the 41B overpass and eventually the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor overall, we are strengthening Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway, while positioning the West Coast as the corridor of choice between Canada and the high-growth Asia-Pacific markets,” Ed Fast, Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, said in a Dec. 21 statement announcing the overpass’ completion.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
