The Surrey Engineering Department has released their 10 Year Servicing Plan (2010-2019). Including below is a Google map of the major road expansion projects to be completed in the short term (1-3 years). New roads are in orange, while widened roads are in purple.
The plan includes some critical pieces of the network, including the continued four laning of King George Boulevard between Hwy 10 and Hwy 99, as well as the widening of 96 Ave from 152 St to 168 St, a regional road that now connects to the Golden Ears Bridge.
The expansion of 64th Ave, from 177 St to 184 St, will be a much appreciated widening for the residents of Cloverdale, and the expansion of 160 St from 88 Ave to Fraser Hwy will help define Fleetwood Town Centre as it builds out. The continuation of Whalley Boulevard north of Grosvenor Road has been viewed as an essential connection for the City Centre. Meanwhile, as Clayton continues to develop, the 192 St diversion will aid in diffusing traffic in that area.
The plan also includes what is sure to be contentious road expansion to many community members. The last stretch of Fraser Hwy yet to widened to four lanes is the section through Green Timbers, part of which is to be completed in this short term plan (138 St to 96 Ave).
Perhaps even more controversial however is the proposal to fasttrack the extension of 84 Ave through Bear Creek Park. That road extension, brought up numerous times through the years by the Engineering Department, has continuously been turned down by Council due to enormous public outrage. Most recently the road was put on hold in 2009 after extensive campaigning by the community. It appears as though the politicians didn’t hear them.
Mayor Dianne Watts has decided to step down from Chair of the Mayor’s Council of TransLink. She has been the Chair since the inception of the Mayor’s Council, part of the reshuffling of TransLink’s structure by former Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon.
According to the Surrey Leader, Watts was stretched too thin and wants to focus on leading Surrey:
“I have a lot going on here in the City of Surrey,” Watts said. “I have a finite amount of time as to where I can put my energy. We’re building a new downtown core, we’re dealing with densifying our town centres and making sure they’re livable and workable.”
However, such a major decision will not go by without question. Surely this is not just about “focusing on Surrey”.There must be more going on here.
Is this about the ongoing drama at TransLink ?
Watts isn’t the first major name to leave the organization in recent times. Tom Prendergast, former TransLink CEO, was brought in from New York to lead the billion dollar agency through a major expansion and capital plan. Under his year long helm, TransLink pursued an aggressive public relations campaign to drum up support for the increased taxes that came with increased transit. While the campaign was successful with the public, it failed to resonate with the provincial government – which controls the agency’s purse strings – and left TransLink in financial limbo. Prendergast left TransLink late in 2009 to become CEO of the New York MTA.
Watts, meanwhile, pursued her own strategy to renegotiate funding deals with the Province. During the summer of 2009, she organized a coalition of business people, environmentalists, union leaders, and other Mayors, to publicly push Victoria’s hand. The effort also failed, leaving Watts and the Mayor’s Council to vote for temporary tax and fee increases to keep TransLink on life support and leaving negotiations ongoing.
It is rumoured that the Province will introduce legislation to restructure TransLink once again in the Spring. Was Watts left powerless and exhausted, or…
Is this about Watts clearing her plate for a provincial jump?
Watts has been consistently touted by the regional media as the best contender to take over the Premiership from embattled and ever-unpopular Gordon Campbell. Polls also show that she would get the most support among potential candidates, including various MLAs from both parties, as well as former Deputy Premier Christy Clark and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.
According to whispers in the grapevine, Kevin Falcon, the aggressive and extremely partisan Health Minister has toned down his rhetoric and ambitions thanks to a new wife and baby. Rumours state he will move from his riding in Cloverdale to take over White Rock from Gordon Hogg, who is expected to retire. Watts is then expected to capture Cloverdale as a Liberal, and presumably attain party leadership at some point.
The TransLink announcement comes on the heels of Chris Gardner’s departure from City Hall. Gardner had been hired as the Manager of Intergovernmental Relations in the Summer of 2009 and suddenly quit his job at the beginning of the year. Gardner was Watts’ campaign manager for both municipal elections and is rumoured to be heading up her bid for the Liberal leadership.
While it is unknown whether Premier Campbell will step down anytime soon, pundits suspect the best time to do so would be after the Olympics. Columnist Alex Tsukamis has previously mentioned that if he fails to step down, party factions will have the knives out for their fearless leader.
So, could this be the next step in Watts’ preparations for a jump to provincial politics?
As part of the $12.5 million stimulus investment in greenway infrastructure, Surrey, in partnership with BC and Canada, is funding the construction of the Tynehead Overpass. The pedestrian bridge will cross Hwy 1 at 168 St. Below are three concept designs the team is looking at building.
Townshift, the international design competition of Surrey’s Town Centres, has wrapped up with 130 submissions from 10 countries around the world.
An exhibition of the finalists will occur at 6pm, this Thursday February 5th, at SFU Surrey. At 7pm, there will also be an “Urbanizing the Suburbs” panel with Lisa Rochon, from the Globe and Mail, and architects Bing Thom and Trevor Boddy.
The winners will be announced February 24th at 11am at SFU Surrey.
To shift the conversation back to the community, a panel titled “Where Do We Go From Here” will be hosted on March 29th at Kwantlen University’s Surrey campus.
The towers formerly known as Infinity Phase 2 has been rebranded as Park Place by Concord Pacific, the development group that took over the project after its previous owners went bankrupt during the peak of the recession.
According to reps with Concord, construction is set to resume immediately. A renewed public sale will launch after the Olympics, likely in March or April.
There will be no changes to the design. Construction is estimated to be complete by the Fall of 2011. It is unknown whether Concord will pursue the future phases of what was the Infinity master plan.
As the first major wave of City Centre developments finish up, including CityPoint, Agenda & Element, and Quattro Phase 1, we take a look at what developments are working their way through the City and are scheduled to start construction in the near future.
While there are a number of great projects being planned, including hotels, residential towers, and urban office towers, many are unlikely to start anytime soon, and could potentially stall or fall through, as such utopian developments tend to do. So, for this post, we focus on the most realistic developments likely to begin this year. Be sure to click on for the full post.
Urban Village Phase 2 (on the left): Phase 1 consisted of the two four storey apartment buildings to the south – Agenda and Element. Phase 2 consists of the 38-storey Ultra tower, which is currently being sold by developer WestStone. The tower will have a total of 358 units and also include 16 standalone townhomes at the base.
2009 was a great year for the historic downtown of Cloverdale. The town start a complete refurbishment and reconstruction of the Main St, with new lighting, sidewalks, public art, and hanging baskets. Additionally, two four storey condo buildings completed construction – Clover Downs Estates and West on the Village Walk. Not to mention the beginning of construction on the Cloverdale Recreation Centre, just a block outside of the downtown.
The key to the revitalization of the historic core of Surrey has always been its residential population. For the area to be bustling with life, people need to live within relative proximity to walk around and visit the shops. Once a critical mass of residents is achieved, a self-perpetuating cycle of improvement will begin: more residents, which means more demand for improved and varied shops, which attracts more residents/visitors, and so on.
2010 seems destined to continue progress towards this goal. The long awaited redevelopment of the Cloverdale Mall will begin this year, with Phase 1 to be announced soon. That project is expected to include a mixed-use senior’s housing component, if the TownShift competition is any indication.
In addition, two private developers will begin construction on mid-rise residential projects.
This four storey condo project is being undertaken by the same developers behind Clover Downs Estates. The development, at 58 Ave and 177B St, will include 34 units.
This 3 storey condo building, with 29 units, is located at 56A Ave and 177B St, just a short jaunt from the Surrey Museum and Archives.
As more old single family homes in the town centre are bought up by developers, you can expect to see a handful more of these mid-rise projects coming down the pipe in the next few years. Hopefully this is only the beginning of a major renaissance in historic Cloverdale.
