The Canada Line rapid transit project that will run mostly underground between the Vancouver waterfront and the airport reached a major milestone Sunday when a tunnel boring machine broke through the ground into the future site of the Waterfront Station.

The breakthrough by the massive, 440-tonne tunnel boring machine was marked by a ceremony attended by Premier Gordon Campbell, several Canada Line officials and the workers who have been on the project.

“This will shape the city for the long-term future and it helps open our doorway to the rest of the world and show them what we can do,” said Campbell, who handed medals to each worker after the tunnel crashed through the last obstacle.

The premier said the project was on budget and “ahead of schedule, so every time you're ahead of schedule you're in better shape for the long term.”

Controversy

But the project also has caused considerable controversy for the section that runs underground along Cambie Street, east of the downtown, because it has disrupted many businesses.

Some business owners have said they have been ruined, but the B.C. government has offered no compensation.

“You can't do a major transportation project without some disruption,” said Mr. Campbell. “It doesn't matter whether it's a major road improvement, a major transportation improvement, there are going to be some disruptions.”

The Canada Line system will run, completely separated from traffic, between the Waterfront Centre on Burrard Inlet near downtown Vancouver to the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond. It will have 16 stations, two bridges, and approximately 19 kilometres of tunnel.

The line is expected to be in operation in 2009.

The tunnel boring machine that has been used on the Canada Line project is used for deep tunnels where there are man-made obstructions above the tunnel that prevent construction from the surface.

The machine bore twin 2.5 km tunnels at a rate of about 10 metres a day and was used to tunnel under False Creek and under buildings in the downtown core.

Canada Line is a $1.9-billion expansion of Vancouver's SkyTrain elevated rapid-transit system.