Canada’s $591 million initiative to aid West Coast port expansions

CanadaÆs $591 million initiative to aid West Coast port expansions    Canada’s government has announced $591 million in contributions to its ports and intermodal infrastructure, in a bid to capture a larger share of the West Coast shipping market.
   Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday announced the federal “Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative,” with the $591 million going towards more than a dozen projects. A total of $321 million will be immediately committed to a variety of infrastructure, transportation technology and border security projects in Western Canada, which are scheduled to be completed within four years.
   “Our country is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the spectacular growth that is occurring in the Asia-Pacific region, Harper said. “Canada should be the crossroads between the massive economy of the United States and the burgeoning economies of Asia.”
   Harper said the initiative “is a massive undertaking. It is a collaborative effort involving all levels of government and the private sector.” He added that private firms have committed more than $3 billion in Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor-related projects between 2004 and 2010.
   He said container traffic at British Columbia’s major commercial ports is expected to rise to 7 million units annually by 2020, boosting Canada’s share of West Coast container traffic from 9 percent to 14 percent.
   Gordon Houston, Vancouver Port Authority president and chief executive officer, on Wednesday said the initiative “moves British Columbia’s ports closer to realizing the tremendous economic potential of expanding Asia-Pacific trade. The government’s immediate allocation of $321 million will address urgent road and rail capacity and congestion issues to improve goods movement and livability in the gateway.”
   In the past two years, the VPA and its terminal operators have invested more than $400 million to increase the Port of Vancouver’s cargo and container handling capacity to meet the growing opportunity that Asia-Pacific trade represents to the region and to the country.
   Immediate federal funding to promote more efficient and seamless transportation connections specific to the Port of Vancouver include up to $50 million for overpasses and underpasses along the Roberts Bank Railway Corridor, up to $100 million toward construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, and up to $2 million over two years to support environmental assessments for the South Fraser Perimeter Road work.