OTTAWA – The Canadian government on Wednesday announced it will spend approximately $16.5 million on nine transportation infrastructure improvement projects in British Columbia to help freight more efficiently.

All are for Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway, an investment and policy initiative focused on increasing trade with the Asia-Pacific region by improving the region’s network of seaports, airports, railways, roadways and border crossings across Western Canada.

According to Transport Canada, these new projects will reduce bottlenecks, address capacity issues and enhance the efficiency of the transportation system in moving goods, services and people to and from the fast-growing Asia-Pacific economies.

Among the projects receiving funding, Port Metro Vancouver will receive $6 million to help build a new paved truck staging area at the junction of Highway 17A and Deltaport Way in Delta, BC.

The goal of the $18.3-million project is to help eliminate truck staging bottlenecks in and around the Deltaport Terminal, improve road safety by reducing truck queuing on public roadways and reduce congestion and increase the efficient movement of trade at Canada’s largest marine port facility.

Nearly $5 million will go to the City of Richmond for major upgrades to Lansdowne and No. 2 roads as part of a $10 million effort to improve truck access to the regional and provincial highway system and support the distribution of goods, increase capacity for more vehicles and reduce congestion and travel delays.

The Government of Canada will also provide the District of Squamish with $50,000 towards a $111,500 study to evaluate existing commercial vehicle routes and identify a preferred truck route that supports the movement of heavy vehicles serving the key industrial/port areas of the district, including the Squamish marine terminals and CN Rail yard.