Until the announcement, it was envisaged that a new bridge would be built alongside the original 45-year-old bridge. Connect BC Development Group, which has been chosen to deliver the project under a public-private partnership, now believes that it would be cheaper in the long term to build a single replacement bridge.

Connect BC includes the Macquarie Group, Transtoll, Peter Kiewit Sons and Flatiron Constructors Canada. The government reached an agreement-in-principle with Connect BC in January and financial close is expected in early March.

The capital cost of the project including highway upgrades is approximately US$2 billion.