Major delays in a pair of multibillion-dollar bridge proposals have handed Canada’s Trudeau government a setback as it pushes to get marquee infrastructure projects moving to boost the economy.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, newly elected provincial officials have canceled a pending procurement for the $2.8-billion, 10-lane George Massey bridge to replace an aging 1950s-era tunnel under the Fraser River. The winner had been set to be announced in October. Meanwhile, initial hopes that a new $3-billion bridge across the Ontario border to Detroit would open in 2020 have long since been dashed. The four-to-five year construction process is not expected to start until 2018, with the deadline for detailed bid submissions recently pushed back by four months.