Heavy Rail, Commuter Rail, & Intercity Transportation

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Expect to see a lot more

Light rail fans to hit the highway

By Jeff Nagel - Abbotsford News

Published: April 06, 2009 5:00 PM
Updated: April 06, 2009 5:21 PM

Advocates of a light rail line to the Fraser Valley are planning a mass protest against the province’s pricey plan to build a new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge.

The “day of action” is set for Saturday, April 11 and organizers with the group Rail For The Valley intend to place banner-waving demonstrators on overpasses overlooking Highway 1 from West Vancouver to Chilliwack.

“We think the Port Mann Bridge project is a lot of money being spent on a bridge that’s not going to do anything for the light rail needs of the Fraser Valley,” said Rail For The Valley spokesman John Buker.

“People are asking for an alternative to driving their cars and we haven’t seen anything from the government.”

The cost of the combined Port Mann replacement and Highway 1 corridor widening has escalated from a previous $1.7 billion to $2.46 billion. Once financing and maintenance costs over the life of the project are included, the total bill is estimated at $3.1 billion.

“You could have an extensive light rail network for a fraction of the cost all the way out to Chilliwack,” Buker said. “You could build new light rail all through Surrey and Langley.”

He said the province shouldn’t try to spend its way out of the recession by tearing down the existing Port Mann Bridge.

Buker is hoping for hundreds of protesters lining the highway between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the protest day.

“South of the Fraser will be saying no to second-class transit and the government preoccupation with road building to the exclusion of light rail.”

The group is also concerned about what it sees as the province’s bias in favour of more expensive SkyTrain technology that runs either above or below traffic.

UBC professor Patrick Condon estimates a $3-billion-plus investment could instead produce an extensive 200-kilometre network of light rail trams south of the Fraser.

Condon has generated maps showing such a network could place tram lines within a 10-minute walk of 80 per cent of the residents in Surrey, White Rock, Langley and parts of North Delta.

A deluxe light rail line running to Chilliwack could have been built for half the price of the new Canada Line, according to Rail For The Valley.

The group argues a service could be started quickly on the old Interurban rail line.

While a light rail line could eventually run over the new Port Mann Bridge, it’s not in the initial plan.

“If light rail is not on the bridge by 2013 when it opens I don’t think it will ever be added to the bridge,” Buker said, predicting the government will never take away lanes from regular traffic for transit service.

The provincial government has launched a detailed study of future transit needs in the Fraser Valley, but findings aren’t expected to be released before next month’s election.

Source: The Abbotsford News -- http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/42559052.html