Claire Trevena was the keynote speaker at Surrey Board of Trade Luncheon at Eaglequest Golf Course on Friday

British Columbia’s Transportation Minister Claire Trevena insists the new toll-free Pattullo Bridge “will handle the traffic volumes.”

This is in response to criticism that it should be six lanes, not four as is the current situation.

“Expansion can happen if and when it’s needed,” she said.

The new bridge is set to open in the fall of 2023 and after that the existing bridge, which was opened in 1937, will be removed. The budget for the project is $1.377 billion.

Trevena was in town Friday to speak about local infrastructure investments at a Surrey Board of Trade Luncheon at Eaglequest Golf Course in Fleetwood. The NDP government has earmarked billions of dollars over the next three years for transportation projects across the province, she said.

Replacing the George Massey tunnel, Trevena told her audience, is “one of my top priorities” and is at the “top of my agenda.”

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The Now-Leader asked about her concerns involving the COVID-19 crisis as it relates to cross-border transportation.

“I think we’ve got a very good screening process in effect in British Columbia,” she said. “The federal government, and both the U.S. and B.C. border security are very well aware of the risk of the virus.”

B.C. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena in Surrey, on the COVID-19 virus as it relates to transportation, and the effect rail blockades have had on the province's economy. #SurreyBC pic.twitter.com/6DXT9JLMlZ — Tom Zytaruk (@tomzytaruk) March 6, 2020

Lyft and the Port of Vancouver were co-presenting sponsors and the Now-Leader was media sponsor.

Meantime, Premier John Horgan is expected to deliver a 2020 B.C. government economic address on Tuesday, March 10, at the Northview Golf and Country Club during a Surrey Board of Trade luncheon. Co-presenting sponsors of that event are Community Savings credit union and Simon Fraser University, with Kwantlen Polytechnic University a supporting sponsor and the Now-Leader the media sponsor.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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