Excerpts from “The tenacity of George Massey,” South Delta Leader, May 08, 2009.

N. George Massey had a dream— “tunnel vision,” one might call it.

Son Doug Massey says his father wanted to see a tunnel link South Delta and Richmond ever since he first arrived in Ladner and crossed the South Arm of the Fraser on a ferry in 1935.

It wouldn’t be until more than two decades later, May 23, 1959, that a tunnel would be open to the public.

George Massey’s vision called for a six lane tunnel with pedestrian and bicycle lanes, inspired by the Maas Tunnel in Rotterdam.

Convincing the B.C. government of the need for a tunnel was an uphill battle. Kathy Bossort, archivist with the Delta Museum and Archives, says Massey’s campaign for the crossing really got going in the late 1940s, after the Second World War, when he created the Lower Fraser River Improvement Crossing Association.

Massey mailed out thousands of information sheets about the tunnel to garner support. Doug says the association attracted 400 to 500 members, many who volunteered to help his father with detailed research such as counting the number of vehicles using the ferry.

Opposition came from naysayers who said ships would never be able to ply the shallow waters over a tunnel. Others wanted New Westminster and the Pattullo Bridge (completed in 1937) to be main route for traffic.

In response Massey hand painted a large wall map illustrating how a tunnel would fit into the broader picture of traffic flow through the Lower Mainland.

In campaigning for the tunnel and leading up to construction, George kept all the design and planning reports.

In early 1956 the provincial government under Premier W.A.C. Bennett authorized the construction of the tunnel. Doug returned to Ladner from Seattle to help run his father’s shop, Massey’s Marine Supply in Ladner, while Massey served as MLA with the Social Credit Party and monitored construction.

“He was out there viewing the tunnel every hour, every minute he could make available,” says Doug, adding his father was fortunate to have plenty of support.

Massey filmed and photographed construction, creating a 90-minute video of the process. Doug has decided to take his father’s silent film, George Massey Tunnel Construction, 1956-1959, and narrate over it. He plans to host a special showing for the public at the museum.

On the tunnel’s 50th anniversary, May 23, the museum launched an exhibit which runs until Nov. 21 (deltamuseum.ca.).

The Deas Island Tunnel officially opened May 23, 1959. On July 15, a special opening ceremony was held with Queen Elizabeth II.

It cost about $25 million to build, and was a toll tunnel until April 2, 1964. George Massey paid the crossing’s final one dollar toll that day. He died four days later. In recognition of Massey’s integral role in making the tunnel a reality, it was renamed after his death.

“He lived and died to see the actual tunnel be built,” says Doug.