News broke over the weekend about a staff report presented to Metro Vancouver which suggested Surrey be put next in line for regional rapid transit, moving the suburban city ahead of Vancouver’s long requested UBC Line. Although the regional federation has previously put both Surrey and Vancouver on the same footing, emphasizing that both extensions were short term priorities, the lack of available funding has changed the position of Johnny Carline, Metro’s Chief Administrative Officer:

“We don’t think we’ll be able to afford full-scale investments in the Evergreen Line, south of the Fraser and UBC all in the life of this plan [Metro's new Regional Growth Strategy 2040] . . . We can’t afford to have investments going out to UBC that take away from investment in the major growth areas . . . That’s where the region is changing the most and that’s where we need transit. It shouldn’t be put off. If we put rapid transit in there, it would put a big impact on the development community on where it wants to go.”

The change in direction reflects Metro’s growing understanding of the issues facing the south Fraser, as well as the tools available to shape development within the region. Despite planning for compact town centres since the 1960′s, urban communities within the region have emerged primarily as a result of SkyTrain investments – the effects most recently seen in the transformations of Brentwood Town Centre and Richmond City Centre. The conclusion being that planning for growth does not dictate its form or timing – only directed public investments through community amenities and rapid transit connections have proven successful. This is a marked admission from regional planners.

Despite the report, Metro Vancouver as an organization has no control over funding decisions made at TransLink. However, the statement is strong and growing uncertainty over the next regional priority will undermine efforts to obtain funding from senior levels of government.

Although Surrey certainly deserves its fair share of transit services, and will require some form of rapid transit before development patterns shift, the case for the UBC Line is strong. Major planning for that route has been underway since the late 1990′s, leaving few decisions left to be made, whereas in Surrey there is no clear decision about where a transit line would go. The Broadway corridor is the second largest centre of employment in the province, behind only Downtown Vancouver, making service there a real priority. Furthermore, increased access to UBC will be a boon to students and faculty from across the region and not just Vancouver. Finally, as the western leg of the Millennium Line, the route is an essential connection to realizing the full capacity of the SkyTrain system. That said, growing discontent from Vancouver’s West Side, as well as Broadway merchants fearing the disruptions that affected Cambie Village, have gone a long way in recent months to disrupt the planned SkyTrain extension.

According to reports, Councillor Judy Villeneuve has stated that Surrey City Council will be visiting Portland in Oregon to examine their transit system which is based around light rail lines.

Metro Vancouver is embarking on a $4 million upgrade of Tynehead Regional Park. The centrepiece of the project is Phase 1 of a paved, multi-use perimeter pathway that will circle the eastern, undeveloped section of the park. The new trail will include several entry features, as well as multiple “story stations”, which will reveal the ecological history of the park through interpretive kiosks and public art. “Story Stations” include Invasive Species, Farm, Ephemeral Stream, and Grassland. The upgrade will also enhance the existing parking area and public facilities at 168th St, as well as add an additional entry near 172 St. A second phase plans to extend the perimeter trail around the western half of the park. Additionally, the City is planning to build a pedestrian overpass connecting the park to Fraser Heights, Surrey Bend Regional Park, and Barnston Island. $1 million of the funding came from the Federal Stimulus package. Construction is expected to be complete by November.

The City of Surrey and Metro Vancouver have finalized a joint management plan for Surrey Bend, the newest regional park in the Lower Mainland. At 348 hectares, Surrey Bend is roughly the size of Stanley Park, making it the largest park in the City. It also contains the third largest bog in the region. The land has been largely inaccessible to the public, despite some makeshifts trails, and the new management plan expects to keep most of the park in its natural state.

After receiving consultation feedback that emphasized protection of the environmentally sensitive area, Metro submitted a revised management plan that leaves almost 75% of the land untouched. That said, the plan will added several new trails, as well as a educationally-focused leisure area near the entrance to the park, including a viewing platform and non-motorized dock, a picnic area, and a children’s play area.

The City and Metro are both committing $350,000 to develop the initial phases of the park. The development of the entire management plan will cost around $20 million. Phase 1 will include a new park access road and 40 stall parking lot, toilets, a picnic area, and an informational kiosk, as well as Beaver Trail, Parsons Channel Trail, Spirea Trail, and Meadow Trail. The long range plan envisions an overpass to Fraser Heights in the northwest.

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?

What do you think is going on?

According to a Public Polling Survey regarding Network Concerns in the City, there’s large support for the extension of 84th Avenue, as well as immense concern regarding the safety and traffic flow of 88th and King George.

The City proposes installing a 3 lane roundabout at the intersection, which outperforms a 6 lane, signalized intersection, as well as reduces pollution and is cost effective. A roundabout this size, on such a major arterial, does not exist anywhere in Metro Vancouver, although similar roundabouts are the norm in Europe.

Public consultation is expected to begin in July. The City proposes that the two projects be built by 2011.

Councillors Barinder Rasode and Marvin Hunt supported public consultation on the proposals, while Mayor Dianne Watts was against.

1. Bothwell Park – 100 acres
2. Crescent Park – 129 acres
3. Kwomais Point Park – 16 acres
4. Redwood Park – 115 acres
5. Latimer Lake Park – 72 acres
6. additional Campbell Heights land – 57 acres

The Green Zone includes all land in the agricultural land reserve (ALR), and also includes several parks that were initially so-designated in 1995.

• Surrey Bend
• Tynehead Regional Park
• Green Timbers Urban Forest
• Bear Creek Park
• Nico Wynd Golf Course
• Elgin Heritage Park
• Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest

Still, there’s a lot of green spaces in the City that aren’t yet city property, officially parks, or protected under the Green Zone…

Surrey Bend is a large, untouched peninsula with a high level of biodiversity.

The 354 ha (875 acre) site is characterized by birch and cottonwood floodplain forests, wet meadows, tidal freshwater marshes, bogs and shrub thickets.

Currently the lands are split between Surrey and Metro Vancouver. Under a new Memorandum of Understanding, the City will lease its lands to Metro Vancouver, which will allow the regional district to consolidate the lands and begin developing and managing Surrey Bend as an accessible regional park, similar to Tynehead, Campbell Valley, and Burnaby Lake. 

Under this new MoU, we could see planning begin in late Winter ’08, and park trails and other facilities on the site by this time next year.

Our current bus stops seemingly lack any overall plan or guidelines. Unfortunately, it seems as though council has accepted the lowest common denominator and recently signed a contract with a company to provide new street furniture – they are the ones putting in all those green metal bus seats everywhere.

If you haven’t noticed, they aren’t much of an upgrade from the old bus seats in terms of design. Frankly, I don’t understand how Delta and Langley can score such wonderfully designed new bus seats and shelters, while Surrey gets skimmed with butt plain ugly in entering our new ad contract.

And so, I will renew my call for the Surrey Bus Shelter Initiative: create a long term vision, plan, and detailed design for street furniture at bus stops in the city. The designs should be evoke a feeling of pride for transit riders and citizens alike. They should represent the best of what we want Surrey to be; to achieve. They should be standardized across the city to represent one unified image of Surrey, while still be flexible in terms of colour and small design cues to fit each of the six town centres uniquely. The street furniture at bus stops should be a beacon of safety in the community, and so attractive that they entice residents to take transit.

There’s not a whole heck of a lot Surrey can do to encourage transit – that’s in the hands of TransLink, the guys with all the funding. However, the one thing the city controls is the bus stops and we could certainly make a way better effort to improve them. Doing so will improve our image, transit’s image, and our own civic pride in what we can achieve.

Check out the slideshow below of the many stops I’ve taken pictures of. You can also view them on a map!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

During the Surrey Mayor’s State of the City address, while discussing transportation in BC’s second largest city, Dianne Watts said:

“I for one am a firm believer that instead of SkyTrain expansion in Surrey we should be looking at At Grade Rail. At Grade Rail is significantly cheaper, easier to build and much more aesthetically pleasing than Sky Train. Surrey cannot wait until 2020 for improved rail transit. At Grade Rail can be completed much faster. I have great confidence in the potential of At Grade Rail, and I am currently having City staff analyze this option so that we can move it forward.”

This is a terrific move on the part of the Mayor. It great to know that she understands the added qualities that LRT presents to Surrey over SkyTrain – not just cost efficiency per km, but also aspects like the streetscape asthetics.

While I understand the reasoning for SkyTrain to UBC and to Coquitlam, I am a vehement supporter of the development of a new rail transit network based on LRT. Surrey is in the perfect position to be the beginning spot for this new network and will set the city apart from the North of Fraser’s transportation planning of the past few decades. It’s saying “We will chart our own path, learn from your mistakes, and build the best rail transit we can”. And that rail transit will be based on LRT!

Hopefully Surrey City Council will take a nod from Vancouver, and continue to push forward on the Heritage Rail Project. It would be a fantastic business case for LRT South of the Fraser if we can have a demonstration up and running in the next few years!

Good job Dianne! You just got my vote for November!