The long-awaited Evergreen Extension took longer to complete than expected but came in under budget by between $70 and $85 million, reporters were told in a technical briefing Tuesday.
Amanda Farrell, the project lead, gave the briefing for background only and her comments weren't to be attributed.
But the picture laid out in a series of slides (available at www.th.gov.bc.ca/evergreen_line/documents/161125-Evergreen-Line-Financials.pdf) show the project was originally pegged at $1.4 billion but the addition of Lincoln Station boosted the figure to $1.431 billion.
The city of Coquitlam and Morguard, the Coquitlam Centre mall owners, contributed $21 million to the project, reporters were told.
But the final cost for the project came in at $1.346 billion to $1.361 billion because less was spent on project management and contingency than was budgeted.
Other information from the briefing:
• No compensation was paid for delays and problems associated with tunnel boring problems.
• Noise monitoring will continue for six months and improvements will be made if needed.
• Other financial drivers were the competitive bidding process, as the project was considered a "flagship" development, low interest rates and cost control.
• Funders were: provincial government, $586 million; federal government, $424 million; TransLink, $400 million. TransLink also provided in-kind services totalling $26 million.
• Property costs were slightly more than anticipated, $160 million compared to $155 million budgeted.
