Sea to Sky Highway
(Project Development Stage)

2002 - 2003; Project Value: $600 Million

Project Summary:

The $600 million Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project, announced in late 2002, was required to improve the safety & reliability of Highway 99 between Vancouver and Whistler, and improve the flow of traffic in heavily-congested areas.  The project was completed in 2009, in advance of the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Due to the rugged terrain and absence of alternative routes, special measures were necessary to reduce the impacts on traffic during construction.  These included extensive night work and strict adherence to well-publicized construction schedules.

Activities:

• • Strategy development

  • Open houses and town hall meetings (including notification and advertising)

  • Municipal Council presentations

  • Media relations support

  • Project and issues management

  • Liaison with key agencies such as the 2010 Bid Corporation

Results: Stakeholder engagement during the project development stage was instrumental in defining the general scope of the Sea-to-Sky project, and in developing construction window commitments that recognized the need to maintain community accessibility.  This public consultation program was embraced by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office as the model to be followed by other Lower Mainland highway infrastructure projects.