After two delays, the Evergreen Line will officially open in early December

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PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) – After twice being delayed, the announcement date for the long-awaited Evergreen Line in the Tri-Cities has been announced. At a news conference at a transit line station in Port Moody, the provincial government says it will open to the public on December 2nd.

The BC Liberal government claims the line is on budget at $1.43 billion and it’s expected to carry 70,000 passengers daily by 2021, however, the exact time the stations will open to the public has yet to be released. The line was supposed to initially open back in 2014.

Both Transportation Minister Todd Stone and Minister responsible for TransLink Peter Fassbender were noticeably absent at today’s announcement.

“The Government of Canada recognizes that we need a solid partnership with all orders of government to support infrastructure projects that help the middle class grow and prosper now and into the future. The Evergreen extension will help get people where they need to go safely, efficiently and comfortably, and I am very pleased that it will be in service in the coming weeks,” says Ron McKinnon, MP for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam.

Previously, the provincial government announced a $5 million park and ride at the Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station in Coquitlam, which will bring the total number of parking spots along the transit line to 650.

The 11-kilometre line promises to carry people from the Tri-Cities to Burnaby in about 15 minutes which will connect passengers to the Millennium Line to get to Downtown Vancouver.

Passengers likely relieved

NDP MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey and the party’s Transit Critic David Eby says it’s unfortunate the line couldn’t open on time and on schedule. “Because the province couldn’t figure out how they were going to fund it and certainly other municipalities must be looking at the Evergreen Line and wondering how long they’re going to have to wait for their long promised transit improvements.”

NEWS 1130 asked Eby for his thoughts on the fact both Stone and Fassbender were not at today’s major announcement. “I’m not surprised that neither of the responsible ministers showed up for this announcement because it’s largely embarrassing. Minister Fassbender said this project was on time and on budget. It’s two years late and they still haven’t released all the information to suggest it’s on budget.”

He speculates another reason the pair may have missed the news conference was because they didn’t want to face questions about light rail in Surrey and the Mayors’ Council 10-year transit plan.

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