Premier Christy Clark announced Friday that tunneling on the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line is set to begin in a matter of days.
The transit system will connect the Tri-Cities with the rest of the SkyTrain system
Much of the line is above ground, but a two-kilometre section will be carved out using “Alice,” an 85-metre-long boring machine named in honour of Alice Wilson, Canada’s first female geologist.
“Alice” will move at a pace of eight metres a day, travelling from just east of the Barnett Highway in Port Moody to Coquitlam.
The province, federal government and TransLink are providing funding for the line.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone says people living in the area where the tunneling is taking place shouldn't notice anything while the work is being done over the next several months.
“We expect that the boring will be done by this December so it will crunch through a small amount of ground each day. It's not an easy job,” he said.
The 11-kilometre line is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2016.
Clark says the project will create 8,000 jobs.
