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Prince Rupert Begins Construction of $90 Million Road, Rail And Utility Corridor

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A March 8 groundbreaking at Prince Rupert marked the start of construction of a $90 million road, rail and utility corridor project that the port authority believes will be a catalyst for significant terminal developments being advanced through private sector investment in the Ridley Island industrial area of the port. 

The project entails construction of five parallel rail tracks, a two-lane roadway, and a port-owned power distribution system along an 8-kilometer/5-mile corridor. It will provide shared-use infrastructure for proposed potash, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other terminals on the island. The capital costs of the terminal developments are currently estimated in the billions of dollars. Phase one will employ up to 90 workers during construction, which is due for completion in December 2014.

"This project will connect Canada's proven capacity for resource production to growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region and is the largest in Prince Rupert since construction of the Fairview Container Terminal," said Port Authority Chairman Bud Smith. "We are integrating the new terminals into the world-class service and security architecture at the Port of Prince Rupert. Through our increasingly diversified port complex, the Canadian resource sector will be linked to a world of opportunity."

The port authority's Gateway 20/20 Plan foresees reaching annual throughput capacity of 100 million metric tons of cargo as proposed terminal developments are completed.

The utility corridor is being funded jointly by contributions of $15 million each by the governments of Canada and British Columbia and $30 million each by CN and the port authority.

Other proposals for Ridley Island include a potash export terminal planned by a Saskatchewan potash marketing and logistics company Canpotex with annual throughput of 13 million tons per year. Additionally, the BG Group is considering a 200-acre tract on Ridley Island as the site for a LNG terminal that would load Western Canadian gas onto ships bound for Japan, South Korea and China.
 

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