Feds Give $50 Million to Improve Traffic Flow at [Vancouver] Ports

(Vancouver Sun – Fiona Anderson)

The federal government is providing almost $50 million to make truck and train traffic run more smoothly at Vancouver’s ports.

The sum – up to $49.7 million – is part of a $125-million upgrade that will add 11 overpasses – one on Powell Street in east Vancouver and the rest on port lands on the south side of Burrard Inlet – to improve rail and road access to the terminals. The improvements will also accommodate longer trains travelling through the port lands and lead to shorter wait times for trucks and other vehicles.

The remaining money for the projects will be provided by Port Metro Vancouver and local container and grain terminals, as well as the City of Vancouver and Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways.

These projects will not only improve the flow of traffic but will also create and sustain jobs “in the midst of the worst global recession in half a century,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a news conference at Ballantyne Pier. “They are as well laying the foundations for the longer-term prosperity of our country by creating the infrastructure that will strengthen our trading relationships with the rising economic powers of Asia,” Harper said. Read more here.