VANCOUVER, B.C. — The federal government revealed its new Asia-Pacific Gateway Corridor Initiative in the Lower Mainland to improve connectivity between B.C.’s ports and the rest of Canada.

Vancouver Port Authority president and CEO Gordon Houston says the $591 million federal Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative is vital to the continued success of the Port of Vancouver.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced details of the initiative in person at the Port of Vancouver’s Centerm container terminal in Burrard Inlet.

“The government’s immediate allocation of $321 million will address urgent road and rail capacity and congestion issues to improve goods movement and livability in the gateway,” said Houston.

Houston stated that, in the past two years, the VPA and its terminal operators have invested more than $400 million to increase the Port of Vancouver’s cargo and container handling capacity to meet the growing opportunity that Asia-Pacific trade represents to the region and to the country.

“But our investment means nothing without the supporting expanded road and rail networks that move goods to and from the port,” said Houston.

Immediate federal funding to promote more efficient and seamless transportation connections specific to the Port of Vancouver include up to $50 million for overpasses and underpasses along the Roberts Bank Railway Corridor, up to $100 million toward construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, and up to $2 million over two years to support environmental assessments for the South Fraser Perimeter Road work.