WATCH: Doerkson says new Massey Bridge could be built in five years for $6 billion

BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson has claimed that a new bridge to replace the Massey Tunnel could be built in five years at a cost of $6 billion.

He revealed the numbers during a press conference in Port Moody on Friday when asked by Sitka Media, noting that they were not finalized.

"We think that this bridge can be built for $6 billion," Doerkson said. "It can be built in five years."

He went on to note that the current replacement project, an eight-lane tunnel, has not yet finished its environmental assessment review. According to the government, that is slated to be completed by late 2026, with major construction beginning in 2027.

"The fear that I'm hearing from residents is that this tunnel will never be built," Doerkson said. "This should have been a bridge, it should have been completed around three or four years ago, and it should have cost a third of what we're now looking at."

In July, Victoria revealed that the new tunnel would cost $8.5 billion. Around one third of that will be covered by the federal government per a recently-finalized agreement.

Doerkson said he would "work closely with the federal government to make sure we do everything we can to retain that funding.”

During a press conference of his own in nearby Coquitlam, BC NDP leader David Eby was asked by Sitka Media if he would still choose a tunnel over a bridge if he could go back and do it all over again.

"When Premier Horgan made the decision in 2017 to transition from a bridge to a tunnel, he was talking with local mayors," Eby said. "We were looking at issues related to the stability of the shore and issues like that that resulted in a decision to go ahead with a tunnel."

He called Doerkson's proposal "one of the craziest things I've heard the Conservatives say," and said he would like his opponent to "look the construction workers who are working on that site in the eye and say I'm going to fire you and replace you with a project that has no environmental assessment, no procurement, no plan, and we'll see you in a couple years."

"It is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Eby reiterated, "and this man is proud of it."

The BC Greens told Sitka Media that the back and forth between the two parties represents "no better example of the dysfunction of our politics."

"Getting across a river should not be political," they added.