Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
It is concerning that there is this much sunk cost apparently only relevant to the tunnel with no real progress. Have we already bought a TBM?
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Why is that concerning? The project had been approved and green lit all the way through up until the time when the UCP yanked funding. Even the week before he yanked funding Dreeshan said they could bank on it and the province was 100% committed. They were doing the work that had been agreed upon and they needed to do that work beforehand to relocate utilities downtown and acquire land before 'building track'. Everyone was aware this work was being done to prepare.
I hate to say this, but IMO unless the City can get guarantees from the UCP that they're going to share the risk they have to walk away and hope future Governments can bring it all together again. This plan is 5% designed vs 60%+ for the City's tunneling plan so the ~6-7B elevated cost is probably +/- 50%.
Yes you lose the 1.5B funding from the Feds, but the City is on the hook for any funding above the provincial/federal commitment and you can't commit to a 'plan' scribbled with a crayon and no cost certainties. This boondoggle looks like it's only going to get more expensive and the City could easily be in the hole for as much or greater than that 1.5B commitment. The risk is simply too great and the City doesn't have the financial capacity to carry it alone.