There's still a large funding gap to overcome and much work to be done before Pitt Meadows' train crossing problems are dealt with.
That's the message that Mayor Nicole MacDonald shared at the Oct. 8 city council meeting, during which it was announced that the provincial government had contributed $12 million to the ongoing Harris Road grade separation project.
The project hasn't had much in the way of progress for more than a year now after it was announced in 2023 that rising costs and inflation had resulted in the total project estimation increasing from $63 million to $195 million.
The City of Pitt Meadows was asked to become a funding partner and contribute $50 million, which they unanimously voted down, and no major funding changes had been announced until recently.
But now, there is $12 million less to worry about after the B.C. government agreed to contribute money toward the active transportation component of the project.
"If it's not used for that project specifically – although we'd really like to keep that $12 million in the City of Pitt Meadows because we have a whole plethora of active transportation needs – we would need to request that again from the province in order to maintain it," explained MacDonald.
"This is not provincial jurisdiction. They've been pulled from other projects to try and make this happen."
The approval for the $12 million contribution was made back in March, however, the City of Pitt Meadows was unable to share this information until receiving the proper permission to do so.
"We release this information and these letters as soon as we are able to," said MacDonald. "This was the first date that we could release that information."
Now that she is able to share about the funding, MacDonald celebrated the news, saying that it's a step in the right direction.
"Any money infused into that project is a good thing," she said. "There are still a lot of hurdles to jump through in terms of progressing that project. Engagement with the public would be one of them."
She also clarified that this $12 million does not make the province a funding partner, and that the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority still remains the lead on this project.
"They [the port authority] need to pick up their pens and they need to move it forward," said MacDonald.
In terms of what the grade separation would actually look like, there haven't been any significant updates, with MacDonald conveying her disappointment that the most likely option seems to be an overpass rather than an underpass.
"We've been told that the risk and cost of an underpass – to many of our disappointment – makes the project unattainable at this point," said MacDonald. "We still bring it up at every conversation and negotiation as being preferred, but in order to not have this project die, the city is open to those conversations about having an overpass with a number of items."
As conversations surrounding the Harris Road grade separation project continue, MacDonald said that all parties involved are still fighting to make it happen, and she hopes some major progress is achieved soon as the issues surrounding the extensive delays caused by trains are only getting worse.
