VANCOUVER - The B.C. government is stepping in to provide one-third of the money to twin the Port Mann Bridge and widen the Trans-Canada Highway from Langley to the Vancouver area in a public-private partnership.
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon says the government has reached an agreement in principle with the Australian-based McQuarie Group, which was originally going to finance the whole project.
The government decided to provide part of the funding after reports that McQuarie was having trouble raising the money in the face of the world financial meltdown. Originally, said Falcon, they were not planning to participate financially.
The project could cost more than two billion dollars, which Falcon says will be recovered by electronic tolls of about $3 a car.
He says final terms and conditions for the financing deal should be settled in early March.
Falcon says the project remains on schedule for completion in 2013.
