Sixth Street paving finally finiShed
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July 11 2012 www.newwestnewsleader.com
new west poet Cecily nicholson will perform as part of the indian Summer festival. See page a8
Pier Park $750K over budget: City Grant Granger
newwestnewsleader.com
the royal City Show & Shine rolled into town on Sunday, and the hot day brought out the crowds to enjoy some cool cars. See Photos, A3.
MARIO BARTEl/NEWSlEADER
Greenway roadblock in Braid clearing Difficult section for path through industrial area opening up Grant Granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
One of the most difficult roadblocks for creating a section of the Central Valley Greenway through the Braid industrial area is being cleared. When it’s done, it should pave the way for the bicycle/pedestrian path to be moved from a temporary route through Sapperton. The city, working with federal and provincial authorities, Metro
Vancouver and Urban Wood Waste, which owns property along the Spruce Street segment of the route, have worked together to clear the path. That would include identifying fish habitat restoration, finding funds and providing rights of way. “Even though this is just one piece of several that needs to be completed, it’s been the most difficult to achieve so far,” said New Westminster planning analyst Eric Westberg, who prepared a report heard by city council Monday. “[There were a lot of legal complexities but] we’ve made a lot of progress on it this year.”
The greenway was opened in 2010 providing a route that went from New Westminster’s Quayside to Science World in Vancouver. The long-term plan is for the route to go along the Fraser River before heading into Burnaby along the Brunette River. Currently an interim route using Columbia, East Columbia and Fader streets is used. Connecting Westminster Pier Park to Sapperton Landing remains a huge hurdle to cross. But if the Braid industrial area segment is finalized, cyclists and walkers could cross at the foot of
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Cumberland and the east end of Sapperton Landing. It is also where the Brunette enters the Fraser and is often referred to as Cold Point. Metro Vancouver plans to begin construction of a .5 hectare park there starting in 2013. The park would provide an entry point for the greenway into the Spruce Street segment. From there, the route would follow existing roads through the industrial area to Braid, which already has a connection to the greenway. please see ‘IT’S A lOT MORE’, A3
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Westminster Pier Park was nearly three quarters of a million dollars over budget, according to a report to city council on Monday. The park, which officially opened June 16 on the Fraser River waterfront, was expected to cost more than $25 million. The provincial and federal governments both threw in $16.6 million. The final report shows expenses exceeded the budget by $740,080, which works out to 2.9 per cent, for a total of nearly $25.9 million. “This is primarily attributed to additional environmental investigation and reporting required to meet recently enacted Ministry of Environment regulations, and the need to install additional mitigation measures,” said city engineer Jim Lowrie. “Project costing is within expected tolerance from original cost estimates which are considered accurate to plus or minus 10 per cent.” The report says the park could be an catalyst for other private investment in the Downtown area. Design work on a $1.25 million bicycle/pedestrian overpass that would provide access to the park from Fourth Street has begun with construction expected to start in the fall.