Broadway Subway completion delayed to 2026, B.C. government says

The B.C. government says the first phase of the Broadway Subway project in Vancouver has been delayed to early 2026 due to a strike in June.

"A five-week strike in June 2022 affected the concrete supply in the Lower Mainland, which affected the start of tunnel boring," the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said in a news release Thursday.

"The overall schedule for project completion has been moved from late 2025 into early 2026," readsthe statement.

The5.7-kilometreextension of the Millennium SkyTrainlinewill eventually connect the False Creek flats with the Mount Pleasant, Fairview/South Granvilleand Kitsilano neighbourhoods.

The strike started May 20 andinvolved about 160 workers at six Lower Mainland concrete plants operated by Rempel Bros. Concrete.

Some of those employees, who are represented by both the Teamsters and the International Union of Operating Engineers,worked at six otherconcrete facilities operated by Ocean Concrete and Allied Ready Mix, and their colleagues at thoseplants also refused to work during the strike.

In total, around 300 employees walked off the job, effectively halting over 50 per cent of construction projects in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley until an agreement was reached on June 24.

Set to connect VCC-Clark Station, near Clark Street and Great Northern Way,to the future Broadway and Arbutus Station, the Broadway Subway projecthas been described as a wayto improve access to public transit and relieve congestion along the Broadway corridor.

The city has saidthe corridor is B.C.'s second-largest jobs centre, an emerging innovation and research hub, and home to fast-growing residential communities.

Once the new subway is in service, a trip from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Station will take 11 minutes, saving the average commuter almost 30 minutes a day, according to the city.

The city says there will be a more precise update on the project timeline in the spring of 2023, when excavation and tunnel boring are further advanced.