This is really delicious – and it comes from a pretty reliable source:
Regarding the Evergreen Line, a mayor of an eastern municipality is convinced an announcement is coming soon. Perhaps at the UBCM. The mayor also thinks that the Evergreen Line will take the southwest route along Lougheed AND a branch will head off over the Port Mann to Guildford (maybe further).
I wouldn’t be surprised if rail goes to Walnut Grove and then down 200th to Willowbrook and Langley Centre. Jordan Bateman, a Langley councillor and Liberal insider has been pushing light rail on 200th.
There is massive development being planned along the Lougheed United Boulevard corridor included Fraser Mills and Riverview. Both United and Lougheed are lined with low density retail and industrial development which Wilson seems keen on redeveloping.
The southwest route is significantly less expensive than the northwest route due to the lack of tunnelling. If the construction of the Guildford branch is concurrent with the highway expansion, the cost to Coquitlam Centre and Guildford would be similar of the northwest route to just Coquitlam Centre.
The southwest route also means there is a old Canada Line tunnel boring machine sitting around that could be used for the Millennium Line extension. It also means that the Evergreen Line won’t be going through Port Moody which might be why Trassolini is not very happy.
It seems odd in the RFP that they are building the space for light rail now. This is an extra expense that will not increase the revenue in the first few years of operation. Rail over the bridge both in the short and long term will likely generate more revenue than using the two lanes reserved for light rail for general purpose traffic.
Rail also protects project revenue against increases in gas prices and TDM measures designed to reduce automobile use because as car use and revenue goes down, rail use and revenue would go up.
Since most of the opposition to the expansion is coming from Vancouver and Burnaby, the province might also chose to delay the expansion west of Coquitlam.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if the Gateway Program is moved over to the new TransLink. It always seemed rather cumbersome to have both MoT and TransLink responsible for roads in the region. This could be the real reason why Falcon is rejigging TransLink.
Again all of this is rumor and guesswork. Given Campbell’s ability to outmanoeuvre the opposition, none of this would surprise me at all.
I can so see this happening! In fact, it’s rather peculiar because I predicted on my blog this would happen very soon. That the Evergreen Line would be revamped, and Falcon would decide to put some of that billion dollar surplus into funding rapid transit. Just like the tipster points out, it’s the type of action one could easily see happening by the Campbell government.
Anyways, it certainly makes a lot of sense to do so, at least financially. Sure, all those condos developments might go down the drain, and we won’t shape growth nearly as well as we could on the northeast route, but the southwest route will, according to the estimates, serve more people, and be cheaper!
I especially like the mention of the Guildford branchoff. This tells me that the government realizes a transit connection into Surrey is very important, and, if it is going to Guildford, it’s likely that instead of having the King George busway, funding would be put in place to fasttrack LRT down that long earmarked road.
It’s interesting how the tipster mentions Jordan Bateman’s pushing for LRT in Langley. I certainly do not think it’s a realistic happening though, unless the province intends to fund both the King George route and the 200th route. Despite Kevin Falcon’s constituency being closer to Langley, it would be political suicide to choose it over King George. Not only is King George the only area left of the Growth Concentration Area without rapid transit (excluding the yet to be built Evergreen Line) – the route has been designated for rapid transit for decades. Certainly much longer than any idea Jordan came up with in the last couple months. Surrey City Council would be in an uproar, not to mention all the transit riders in North Surrey that have been quietly waiting for their turn for some more rapid transit expansion. But hey, if they choose to fund both, even better for everyone.
Now, it would be extremely interesting, if this goes forward, what technology they choose. If they are playing the fiscally conservative game here, and doing the smart thing actually, I would assume they would choose LRT over SkyTrain. If they do the Evergreen Line, and any Surrey or Langley branches, all in LRT, there could easily be multiple routes and destination combinations. I’d assume building switches and such would probably be cheaper, since the technology isn’t proprietary. If this is the case, there’s no reason why every other train from Newton Exchange, for example, could go to Braid Station, while the second could go to Coquitlam Centre. This would eliminate any need for users to even transfer, depending on where in the Tri-Cities, or beyond, they need to head to.
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That sounds great!
Port Moody can be adequately served with a branch from Coquitlam Town Centre. Commuters from Port Moody to downtown Vancouver have the Westcoast Express, so a branch from Port Moody to Coquitlam Town Centre and on to Guildford and Surrey over the Port Mann would serve the needs out there very well without the need for multiple transfers via the M-Line and Expo Line. It also addresses Translink concern about the Evergreen Line canniballizing Westcoast Express ridership.
Translink has already through the Evergreen Line acknowledged the lower capacity requirements for the northeast in choosing LRT. Compared to the northeast route for the Evergreen Line – which had the potential to be an orphan line for some time until expansion, this sounds like a NETWORK of LRT branches with termini at either Braid or Lougheed Town Centre, Coquitlam Town Centre, Port Moody, Pitt Meadows, Guildford and Whalley.
The business plan for a network like that sounds very promising – and perfect positioning for a P3 project (as opposed to the orphan Evergreen Line as was planned).
so I don’t see why it needs to be Skytrain.
Hi Gordon and thanks for reporting this very plausible rumour. I’ve referenced it on my website and added a bit more on BC Liberal Astroturf group Get Moving BC in case your readers are interested.
…also may explain why the transit only ramps at Gaglardi Way and at North Road are absent from the Gateway plans posted to the EAO website.
I don’t think 200th St with the exception of Langley City centre would be as crucial as LRT going down Fraser Hwy, which I think is scribbled into TransLink’s future research/consideration plans. There are huge gaps of residential areas unserved by Transit in Surrey and Langley, only served through the middle by the 502 which now ignores Cloverdale’s users. An LRT line down Fraser Hwy would reduce some hefty congestion and make it much faster and easier for residents in Surrey and Langley to get to/from their destinations, for many of whom is work. TransLink appeared to be favouring a priority B-Line-style express bus but I don’t feel this would meet our needs. Everything proposed above sounds delicious, indeed and would be moving in the right direction!
The only benefit of going along the highway would be to serve Port Kells and Walnut Grove. A routing along Fraser Highway or 176th Street could also potentially serve Cloverdale before hitting Langley.
[...] funding for “major transit expansion” isn’t coming soon though. As Gordon Price mentioned, this was the earliest point an announcement would be made. And, going through the Province’s [...]