Mayor Watts met with the editorial board of The Province today to talk about her successes and plans in the City. After a brief meeting with editors, she spent half an hour taking questions from the public in a live chat. While Watts made some candid revelations to the board, her answers in the chat were far more scripted. Selected tweets from her discussion with The Province are below:
“TransLink’s like the mafia — you can get in but you can’t get out and you have to keep paying.”
Has Watts looked into options for Surrey to leave TransLink? It sounds like it.
“For the betterment of the region, (Gregor Robertson and I) should probably work on having a better working relationship.”
While it is known that Watts and Robertson operate on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and have previously butt heads on several issues, it is interesting to hear that they do not work together as closely as one might hope.
Dianne Watts says she will run for another term as Surrey mayor and prefers opportunity to build a city over provincial politics.
Watts had previously denied jumping into provincial politics, but as far as I know, this is her first official announcement of her intentions to run for the mayoralty next year, although it is hardly surprising.
Building Vancouver into a world-class city has been good for B.C., but we’re at the point where it has to stop being all about Vancouver — Watts.
Vancouver animosity has grown within the suburbs in recent years, especially within the Tri-Cities and the South of Fraser. It is obvious that a new regional relationship and balance between the core and the burbs will have to be developed within the next few years to ensure that the Metro remains competitive on the global stage. Unfortunately, based on Watts’ comments with regards to Vancouver Mayor Robertson, it does not seem as if Surrey is prepared to take the lead in shaping that regional future.
No question, transportation is THE biggest issue in Surrey, Watts says. Nearly 500,000 people, four SkyTrain stations.
Although it may be “the biggest issue,” Watts had little details to provide the live chat. Of the 17 questions posed, 4 were on transportation. Her responses to each were vague and sometimes contradictory:
Q: I hope you can speak out regarding the transportation in GVRD. This is important to Surrey.
A: Transportation continues to be a major issue for all communities south of the Fraser. We continue to work with TransLink and the provincial government to ensure the people south of the Fraser are served well.
Her response underlines Watts’ philosophy of partnerships. Rather than approach the transport deficiencies with a public outcry of dissent, she continues to prefer a cooperative and conciliatory method behind closed doors. While that approach has resulted in the expansion of some bus routes, with TransLink’s current budget woes, it is unlikely that Surrey will receive any further improvements in the near future without new funding agreements to ensure the City receives its fair share.
Q: You’re on record for supporting Light Rail in Surrey. I’m wondering what is being done to bring LRT to the City.
A: There is a significant lobby from south of the Fraser to use the existing interurban lines and light rail. Given Surrey’s vast size, we can have double the kilometres of track using light rail than we can have with SkyTrain.
Apparently, the only solid effort being made to improve transport is the work of rail supporters in the south Fraser. Unfortunately for the lobbyists, their work does not seem to have translated into political support. As you’ll see below, Watts no longer believes that Light Rail is the best option for the City.
Q: Why have we not pushed for the sky train to come up Fraser Highway and have a stop at 176th street?
A: We have been pushing for SkyTrain. The analysis is being done regarding routes currently. If you look at Fraser Highway, you will see an urban forest and down further, agricultural land. The thought is to densify around transportation corridors and you can’t do that within urban forest and agricultural land, so there is a challenge in that regard.
This was a common line by former Minister of Transport, Kevin Falcon, used to explain why he did not support the Interurban line. Overall though, it is a weak argument, as transport corridors, whether they are roads or rails, will undoubtedly travel through non-developable areas. This is even more of an issue in the south Fraser, as it is the location of most of the region’s agricultural land. These constrictions have not stopped us from building roads through these green zones however – why should rail transit be any different?
You can read the rest of the live chat archive over at The Province online.
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