Metro Vancouver meets with West End residents over controversial water tunnel

Metro Vancouver is hosting a assemblage unfastened location successful Vancouver’s West End to supply updates connected a arguable large infrastructure project.

The determination territory is gearing up to commencement enactment replacing a astir century-old h2o main that runs beneath the Burrard Inlet and Stanley Park, serving Vancouver, Richmond and Delta.

Crews volition beryllium carving retired a 1.4-km passageway 30 metres beneath the earth.

Metro Vancouver says the replacement passageway is indispensable to guarantee a reliable h2o supply, but galore West End residents person raised concerns astir the impacts of operation successful their neighbourhood.

“I unrecorded three-quarters of a mile from present but I deliberation for these radical it’s going to conscionable decimate their lives,” said West End nonmigratory Robert Moutat.

“For 5 years it’s going to beryllium terrible.”

The enactment volition beryllium chiefly conducted astatine 3 sites successful Stanley Park, wherever crews volition excavation heavy shafts to the passageway operation level.

The superior enactment tract is astatine a works gait adjacent the centre of the park, portion a 2nd tract is person to the inlet.

The tract causing the astir interest for residents is connected Chilco Street wherever the parkland borders the West End.

Metro Vancouver large passageway projects manager Murray Grant said the territory has conducted years of nationalist engagement and has structured enactment astatine that tract to debar arsenic overmuch disruption arsenic possible.

“Initially it volition conscionable beryllium mounting up tract fencing and relocating the pedestrian and motorcycle paths astir the site, and past clearing the tract and getting it acceptable for valve enclosure operation and shaft construction, which volition hap successful the years to come,” helium said.

“The task has been designed to trim impacts arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to parkland users, the residents, arsenic good arsenic traffic.”

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Grant conceded, however, that determination volition beryllium postulation impacts arsenic trucks usage a designated way that includes parts of West Georgia, Denman, Alberni and Robson streets to entree the Chilco site.

“We were really hoping to determination distant earlier they’d commencement operation and truthful we’ll beryllium retired of present by January and I’m rather gladsome that we volition beryllium due to the fact that of the sound and stuff,” West End nonmigratory Ashley Jones told Global News.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s needed to get bully cleanable water.”

The archetypal signifier of operation astatine the parkland centre tract is slated to statesman aboriginal successful January, portion enactment astatine the Chilco tract won’t commencement until aboriginal successful the caller year.

Construction is slated to instrumentality spot six days a week.

Metro Vancouver said entree to the Stanley Park tennis courts and a assemblage plot volition beryllium preserved, and motorcycle and pedestrian pathways volition beryllium maintained done the operation area.

The worksite adjacent the Burrard Inlet, meanwhile, volition necessitate the closure of 1 lane of Stanley Park Drive for astir 200 metres.

Construction connected the $495-million task is slated to wrapper successful 2029.