Auditor gives good marks to P3 highway project in B.C., but asks for follow-up
July 19, 2012 - 5:42 PM
VICTORIA - B.C.'s auditor general has given a positive review to the highway upgrade between Vancouver and Whistler that was completed for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but he says the government failed to follow up with data showing the work made the road safer.
Auditor General John Doyle conducted an audit of the public-private partnership, or P3, that carried out the Sea-to-Sky Highway work, which included widening and straightening parts of the road.
He says the project achieved the government's construction goals, but the Transportation Ministry hasn't been able to show the project has achieved its long-term aim of improving safety, reliability and capacity on the route.
He says the ministry is now gathering the information.
Doyle made a similar assessment of a P3 project to build a water treatment plant to handle toxic outflows from the old Britannia mine site, near Squamish.
He says while the project is addressing the pollution issue, the government needs to show how it's going to achieve its long-term goal of closing the site for good.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012