Port celebrates completion of Rail, Road Utility Corridor project

BC's Transportation Minister
Todd Stone delivered the last
spike for Tuesday's ceremony
(photo Port twitter feed)

British Columbia's Transportation Minister Todd Stone brought the hammer down on Tuesday, knocking in one of the final spikes of a major transportation project on Ridley Island.

Mr. Stone's work on the rail line, was one of the final parts of an afternoon ceremony that heralded the completion of the Prince Rupert Port Authority's Road, Rail and Utility Corridor project.

Earlier in the day, political figures, invited guests and assorted members of the media boarded a convoy of highway buses at the Atlin Terminal, ready to make the twenty minute or so run out to Ridley for the day's ceremonies.

A CN Engine provided the backdrop for a number of speeches that noted the participation of a local workforce in carving the corridor out of the Ridley Island brush.

Those attending the celebrations outlined how the two year project has put in place the infrastructure that will set the stage for future growth and trade opportunities from the Northwest Gateway to Asia.

Don Krusel was among many speakers
at the ceremonies celebrating the
completion of the RRUC project
(photo Port Facebook page)

Don Krusel, the President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority noted the diversification for the Port that the project signifies for the years ahead.

“The success of this project exemplifies what can be accomplished when a strategic, long-term vision is executed by a partnership of public and private investment,” .. “The RRUC will expand the diversity of Prince Rupert’s growing port complex and further link Western Canada to a world of opportunity.”

For those on the North Coast looking for hopeful signs that one day a Potash terminal may be part of those options for shipment from Ridley Island, Canpotex President and CEO Steve Dechka was on hand to offer up congratulations on the successful completion of the corridor project

“Congratulations to the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the Tsimshian First Nations, the Canadian National Railway Company, the Federal and Provincial Governments and local communities on their exemplary work on the construction of the first phase of the RRUC. Canpotex is pleased to have contributed $15 million to such an important project to the Prince Rupert community and to the transportation capacity of western Canada. The collective commitment and the excellent work of everyone who has contributed has meant that the RRUC is already delivering benefits to the community and the economy of Prince Rupert and British Columbia.”

Canpotex contributed 15 million dollars towards the 90 million dollar project.

Other stake holders included the Federal and Provincial Governments, which both contributed 15 million dollars each and Canadian National Railway which provided 30 million dollars for the project.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority picked up the remainder of the cost related to the two years of work.

The completed project includes an eight kilometre corridor featuring five parallel tracks, a two lane road and power distribution system, all of which will provide service to the far reaches of the Ridley Island industrial area.

As part of the commemoration of the day's events, the Port has released a new video which gives a short overview of what the project was all about, the partners that were involved with it.  An overhead view of the project,





For more items related to developments at the Port of Prince Rupert and its associated terminals see our archive page here.