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â–˛ Public art makes a splash 19
SURREY DEFENDS LRT PLAN â–ś MAYOR TOUTS ECONOMIC BENEFITS, BUT SKYTRAIN FANS NOT SWAYED
FEDS SAY SURREY WILL GET ITS 100 COPS
JEFF NAGEL
The City of Surrey is trumpeting its case for two light rail transit (LRT) lines with a study that claims the system will generate big economic benefits. The report’s release is officially aimed at forming part of the business case to secure federal funding for the $2.1-billion project. But it also comes as city officials seek to quell continued opposition to the choice of ground-level light rail technology over elevated SkyTrain from some critics in Surrey and Langley, and to help ensure the project proceeds even if the Metro Vancouver transit funding referendum is defeated. The Shirocca Consulting study claims 24,600 direct and indirect jobs would be created in B.C. during construction and $1.4 billion would be paid in wages and salaries. The provincial government would collect $132 million in taxes and $354 million in tax would flow to the federal government, and still more would accrue over the next 30 years of operations. Mayor Linda Hepner argues the taxes generated will help offset the capital grants she wants
â–ś “We can get oneand-a-half to two times as much light rail compared to SkyTrain.â€? LINDA HEPNER
â–ś OTTAWA COMMITS TO SENDING MORE RCMP OFFICERS AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR GANG PREVENTION
KEVIN DIAKIW
Light rail transit in Surrey might look something like this street-level train in Dublin.
SURREY.CA
Surrey will be getting the 100 additional police officers it ordered, the federal government announced on Tuesday. Conservative MP for Delta-Richmond East, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who was speaking on behalf of Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, said Surrey’s policing is a top priority and that the city will get the Mounties it requested. She also announced $3.5 million in new funding over five years for Wrap, the Surrey School District’s gang reduction program. continued on page 4
senior governments to make to finance Surrey LRT. She said it’s the most cost-effective rapid transit option to connect the city’s town centres. “We can get one-and-a-half to two times as much light rail compared to SkyTrain,� Hepner said. “And it also animates and develops and shapes the community instead of acting as just a simple mode of transportation.� A Langley Township transportation manager recently cautioned that LRT seems designed to move Surrey residents within the city at the expense of a no-transfer, more reliable and likely faster ride for passengers from Langley through
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Surrey if the Fraser Highway line is built with SkyTrain instead. Although the province overruled the original local choice of LRT for the Evergreen Line in favour of SkyTrain, Hepner said she’s confident the province understands the need for LRT in Surrey and noted it has the agreement of the Metro Mayors’ Council. “It was chosen under the mayors’ plan as a priority project and agreed regionally that light rail was the way to go in terms of connectability and what we could get.� The Surrey LRT project proposes a 10.9-kilometre “L-line� linking Guildford, Surrey City Centre
and Newton that would open by 2023, and a 17.1-kilometre line from City Centre to Langley City opening by 2028. Service is assumed to be every five minutes, falling to every three minutes with an expected service upgrade in 2041. Light rail would have more stations than SkyTrain and be more pedestrian-friendly, offering “both eyes on the street and from the street visibility,� the report said. “Unlike Rapid Bus or SkyTrain alternatives, the LRT will have a permanent physical presence in continued on page 4
Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative MP for DeltaRichmond East.
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