The Surrey city council decision to cancel a proposed LRT line in favour of SkyTrain could mean a rapid transit line that stops well short of Langley, Langley City councillor Nathan Pachal warned.
“My fear would be that it’s Fraser Highway to Fleetwood and call it a day,” said Pachal, a regular transit user who has maintained a popular online blog devoted to transportation and other regional issues for the last 12 years.
Pachal was reacting to the decision by Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition, who passed a motion to cancel the planned light rail system minutes after being sworn in Monday night.
The motion directs city staff to “stop all work” on the LRT project and begin working with TransLink on a SkyTrain extension down Fraser Highway to Langley.
It also requests that the Mayors’ Council and TransLink follow suit and “immediately initiate a new SkyTrain extension,” as well as transfer the approved funding to the project “as soon as possible.”
McCallum has said that he could build SkyTrain to Langley for the same amount as an LRT line, something Pachal doubts is possible.
“We know it (Skytrain) costs more,” Pachal said.
“There’s good evidence based on past practice.”
Pachal estimates the difference between light rail at ground level to Langley and an elevated Skytrain line is around a billion dollars.
Pachal said to fund a Skytrain line connecting Surrey and Langley would require considerable maneuvering.
It could be done, Pachal said, if the funding for two proposed Surrey light rail lines, the just-canceled connection to Langley and a second through downtown Surrey, were combined, and if the federal and provincial governments agreed.
But that would still require additional money, because there is an existing regional funding gap, which would need “hundreds of millions of dollars that would be funded by municipal taxes,” Pachal said.
“There’s so many moving variables,” Pachal said.
“I can’t predict the future.”
READ MORE: Surrey council unanimously passes motion to ‘cancel ’ LRT
Langley Township’s Mayor Jack Froese said everything is on pause until the Nov. 15 meeting of the TransLink Mayors’ Council.
There are pros and cons to both LRT and SkyTrain, Froese said, but either way, it would be better to decide and get the project underway.
“I’d hate to see any delays, because delays do nothing but increase the cost,” Froese said.
TransLink said that a 16.5 kilometre SkyTrain line along Fraser Highway to Langley would cost about $2.9 billion, according to a preliminary cost estimates report completed in 2017.
McCallum insists the line can be done with the money that’s been committed, because some of the system would be built at ground level.
McCallum and the new Surrey council also passed a motion to pull out of the RCMP contract and “immediately create a Surrey Police Department.”
Langley City mayor Val van den Broek said the Surrey move to a municipal police force would have no effect on Langley.
“We’re perfectly happy with the RCMP,” van den Broek said.
As for the LRT announcement by Surrey, van den Broek is reserving judgment until there is more information.
”He’s (McCallum) is doing what he promised,” van den Broek said.
“We’ll have to have discussions with Surrey.”
The decision by Surrey council will also have to be discussed by the regional mayor’s council, van den Broek said.
Last year, Langley City council rejected Light Rapid Transit (LRT) for a planned link to Surrey during a closed-door meeting, formally declaring SkyTrain would be a better choice.
But since the less expensive LRT will likely be what actually gets built, council also said it would be willing to accept the less ideal technology, provided several conditions were met, including an elevated LRT track between Willowbrook shopping centre and east of 200 Street.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
