$110 million in funding is a "drop in the bucket" for Vancouver viaducts removal

Feb 14 2023, 1:43 am

It was announced today the terms of a 2018 memorandum of understanding between Concord Pacific and the City of Vancouver, on dedicating new affordable housing sites in False Creek North, were further formalized into an agreement just recently.

As part of the agreement, in addition to transferring three sites to municipal ownership for the purpose of building over 650 units of below-market rental housing, Concord Pacific is providing the municipal government with a significant cash transfer of $110 million. In exchange, Concord Pacific would be allowed to retain its ownership of three other sites in False Creek North for future condominium developments.

This funding could be used to help cover the cost of affordable housing construction, but City staff have also suggested it could go towards the overall project of demolishing the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts and building a replacement ground-level street network — all under the Northeast False Creek (NEFC) Plan.

In a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized following an inquiry, the City states the cash contribution “is intended to be allocated toward the implementation of the first phase of the new NEFC street network,” with the funding specifically going towards the initial infrastructure work of surface road works, and new cycling pathways and sidewalks along Pacific Boulevard and Expo Boulevard, as well as underground utility upgrades, new street lighting, and signals.

Any further work — including the actual demolition of the viaducts and the new replacement streets at ground level — would still require additional sources of funding, according to the City.

“The timing of implementation of many of the key elements of the Plan, including removal of the viaducts, implementation of the new street network and delivery of public amenities such as parks, is dependent on funding generated by the redevelopment of sites owned by several landowners within the area,” continues the statement.

dunsmuir georgia viaducts northeast false creek concord lands

Aerial of the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts, and the overall Northeast False Creek Plan area. (Google Earth)

In today’s release, Matt Meehan, the senior vice-president of planning for Concord Pacific, said his firm “supports the City’s suggestion of funds going towards the removal of the seismically compromised viaducts as it would also unlock even more affordable housing opportunities in the area.”

Under the NEFC Plan, the footprint of the viaducts would be freed up for a portion of Concord Pacific’s proposed waterfront development, affordable housing development on the two City-owned blocks on either side of Main Street, and more public park and open spaces.

As part of the replacement road network, West Georgia Street would see a four-lane ramp extension — two lanes in each direction — between BC Place Stadium and Rogers Arena, connecting with a reconfigured, two-way Pacific Boulevard. The new Pacific Boulevard would include a segment that combines itself with Expo Boulevard, before continuing onto a redesigned segment of Prior Street towards the new St. Paul’s Hospital campus in the False Creek Flats.

New replacement ground-level road network replacing the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts in Northeast False Creek. (City of Vancouver)

New replacement ground-level road network replacing the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts in Northeast False Creek. (City of Vancouver)

Conceptual design of the West Georgia Street ramp extension towards Pacific Boulevard between BC Place Stadium and Rogers Arena. (City of Vancouver)

New replacement ground-level road network replacing the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts in Northeast False Creek, as well as a preliminary concept of new development and green space. (City of Vancouver)

However, when asked today to react to the possibility of using the developer’s funding towards the viaducts removal and new street network, ABC Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung painted a less optimistic picture given the very significant cost escalation associated with this project.

She says the $110 million towards the viaducts removal would be “a drop in the bucket.”

“We know that the project went up in the hundreds of dollars, and that was before the major cost escalation we have more recently seen, and the economic environment that is happening with labour, materials, and interest rates,” Kirby-Yung told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.

The final Vision Vancouver-led City Council approved the NEFC Plan and its viaducts demolition component in early 2018. At the time, it was anticipated the viaducts demolition would begin in 2020 at a cost of $360 million — up from the earlier estimates of $130 million in 2013 and $200 million in 2015.

The pandemic’s impacts, leading to substantial inflation in all aspects of the economy, have likely increased the costs far beyond the 2018 estimates.

She also reiterated the stipulation under previous City Council direction that the viaducts removal and new street network would be self-funded through condominium developments within NEFC, especially from Concord Pacific’s waterfront site and Canadian Metropolitan Properties’ redevelopment of the Plaza of Nations, which has received various City approvals, including the development permit application approval for the first phase.

It should be noted that the viaducts removal and new street network are part of the 2018 estimated cost of NEFC Plan’s $1.7-billion public benefits package, which is supposed to be area developer funded.

“We’re seeing that clearly, that is not necessarily the case,” she said, commenting on the previously assumed self-funded model, adding that there is now another slowdown in market residential demand — the exact type of housing that would be used to fund the entire NEFC Plan.

Vancouver Skate Plaza underneath the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts. (City of Vancouver)

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Typical peak morning traffic conditions on the Dunsmuir Viaduct in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

She also suggested that while there are seismic safety concerns with the 1972-built viaducts, which form an overpass to access the downtown Vancouver peninsula, the chosen solution for the future of these arterial road structures needs to be done in balance with considerations on making a dent in narrowing the gap on the City of Vancouver’s overall $500 million annual capital deficit on critical infrastructure, facilities, and community amenities.

Kirby-Yung added there is “no way the viaducts removal can happen without the engagement and support of the provincial and federal levels of government.”

“These massive infrastructure projects are incredibly expensive today, and it’s not something we can go at it alone.”

It was also revealed last year that the municipal government missed the deadline to pursue federal funding for the Prior-Venables road upgrade, which is an upgrade of the major route that continues east of where the viaducts currently end at Gore Avenue. City Council’s 2019-approved design for the upgrade included a road underpass beneath the Burrard Inlet Rail Line (BIRL) to eliminate CN Rail’s existing street-level crossing, which has been a source of major traffic congestion, especially with the increased frequency and length of trains from growing port cargo volumes.

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