VALTAC
Aug 10, 2007, 6:17 AM
VALTAC committe to host public rally/picnic
By Natasha Jones
Times Reporter
Aug 08 2007
The Valley Transportation Advisory Committee (VALTAC) is inviting the public to a picnic and rally, to encourage more support for its stand on transportation issues.
VALTAC’s country picnic in the park will be on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Douglas Park.
Committee spokesman Sonya Paterson said the group wants to encourage members and the public “to get on track and re-establish passenger rail service to the Valley.”
Guest speakers include John Cummins, MP for Delta; Gordon Price, a former Vancouver councillor and member of the Liveable Region Coalition, and Peter Holt, director for the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society.
Paterson said that by holding the rally and picnic, VALTAC hopes to improve awareness of the transportation crisis affecting the Fraser Valley.
She said VALTAC advocates a study that will examine the long-term impact of rail traffic. She said that in April, 2006, MP Mark Warawa left a meeting with Transport Canada officials, with a commitment to initiate a new study on alternative rail line routes through the Lower Mainland.
“This is an important step in the long-term planning of road/rail issues which forms the nucleus of the transportation problems in the Langleys,” Paterson reports Warawa as saying.
The plan “falls in line with a master transportation plan that Langley residents and municipal leaders have been asking for,” he added.
Provincial Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon advocates a transit plan which includes the whole Fraser Valley as a key element in the expanded TransLink.
Both Langley councils have supported finding a better vision for rail traffic in the Valley.
“VALTAC . . . urges public support to turn these words into actions,” Paterson said.
VALTAC is a strong advocate of re-establishing passenger rail service on the Interurban line. Cummins, who has an interesting perspective on implementing heavy freight improvements through the South Fraser Valley, will be the guest speaker, Paterson said.
With the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society also at the rally/picnic, it will be an opportunity for the public “to let decision makers know how the public feels about more heavy freight through downtown Langley and the need to restore passenger rail to the Fraser Valley,” she added.
Paterson said that nine new overpasses in Langley, Surrey and Delta to accommodate increase freight train traffic “do not make for a healthy environment.”
see more at www.valtac.org
By Natasha Jones
Times Reporter
Aug 08 2007
The Valley Transportation Advisory Committee (VALTAC) is inviting the public to a picnic and rally, to encourage more support for its stand on transportation issues.
VALTAC’s country picnic in the park will be on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Douglas Park.
Committee spokesman Sonya Paterson said the group wants to encourage members and the public “to get on track and re-establish passenger rail service to the Valley.”
Guest speakers include John Cummins, MP for Delta; Gordon Price, a former Vancouver councillor and member of the Liveable Region Coalition, and Peter Holt, director for the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society.
Paterson said that by holding the rally and picnic, VALTAC hopes to improve awareness of the transportation crisis affecting the Fraser Valley.
She said VALTAC advocates a study that will examine the long-term impact of rail traffic. She said that in April, 2006, MP Mark Warawa left a meeting with Transport Canada officials, with a commitment to initiate a new study on alternative rail line routes through the Lower Mainland.
“This is an important step in the long-term planning of road/rail issues which forms the nucleus of the transportation problems in the Langleys,” Paterson reports Warawa as saying.
The plan “falls in line with a master transportation plan that Langley residents and municipal leaders have been asking for,” he added.
Provincial Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon advocates a transit plan which includes the whole Fraser Valley as a key element in the expanded TransLink.
Both Langley councils have supported finding a better vision for rail traffic in the Valley.
“VALTAC . . . urges public support to turn these words into actions,” Paterson said.
VALTAC is a strong advocate of re-establishing passenger rail service on the Interurban line. Cummins, who has an interesting perspective on implementing heavy freight improvements through the South Fraser Valley, will be the guest speaker, Paterson said.
With the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society also at the rally/picnic, it will be an opportunity for the public “to let decision makers know how the public feels about more heavy freight through downtown Langley and the need to restore passenger rail to the Fraser Valley,” she added.
Paterson said that nine new overpasses in Langley, Surrey and Delta to accommodate increase freight train traffic “do not make for a healthy environment.”
see more at www.valtac.org