Vancouver — What would have been the largest construction project in Lower Mainland history and a showpiece for the 2010 Winter Olympics had yet another spike plunged through its heart yesterday.
For the second time in six weeks, regional transit directors voted down a proposed $1.7-billion rapid-transit line between the international airport in Richmond and downtown Vancouver.
They rejected the so-called RAV line despite moves by Premier Gordon Campbell to revive the pricey project by having the province take it over and pay for all cost overruns.
The line was to have been financed with $450-million from the federal government and $300-million each from the province, the airport and TransLink, the Lower Mainland transit authority.
Remaining costs were to be met by private-sector interests that would build and operate the 19.5 kilometre line, much of it underground.
"It's just too expensive," said North Vancouver mayor Barbara Sharp, who voted to kill the line. "Nothing is the right thing to do if it's too expensive."
She joined other directors in voting to go back and explore a cheaper Richmond-Vancouver transit line with most of the track running above ground.
Provincial Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon was aghast at yesterday's rejection. "It's almost inconceivable," he said.
"The RAV line would have provided enormous benefit to the public and to the environment.
So I am probably expressing the same frustration as most people in the Lower Mainland that a project that would take thousands of people out of their cars and put them on public transit will not go ahead."
"I feel real bewilderment at the inability of transit directors to make a decision," Mr. Falcon said. "Incomprehensible is the probably the nicest term I can use. They [the directors] will live with the consequences."
He noted that the line had long been identified as a priority by TransLink.
"You rarely ever get that kind of money from the federal government. And in spite of that, they still said no."
Mr. Falcon scoffed at the directors' desire to explore new options for the transit line.
"The problem is that whenever they have a chance to make a decision, they don't do so. They pretend to be in favour of the environment, but whenever it comes to making a decision, they fail the test."
Mr. Falcon said the province will not agree to fund any transit line that cannot be completed before the 2010 Olympics, ending hopes for another RAV revival.
"We're not going to have people from around the world coming here in 2010 to see the world's largest construction site."
Yesterday's meeting took 51/2 hours, with numerous complicated resolutions and amendments bandied back and forth.
The first vote, on the province's RAV proposal, was 8-4 opposed.
A compromise resolution — that private-sector bidders for the project be asked to provide their "best and final offer" with any funding gap to be assessed by staff — was defeated on a tie vote.
Mayor Sharp said directors did not like Premier Campbell's revised offer because it would have yielded control of part of the transit system to the province.
"If the provincial government really believes in regional transit, it's about time they let TransLink do their job, instead of coming up with proposals that cost too much."
