Expo Line - Surrey Langley Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by officedweller

This just shows one west of 166th Station.
Thought there was also a doc that showed one along the park (maybe the city's road widening doc).

EDIT:

Just zoomed in and there 2 storage tracks east of 140th Station and west of 166th Station:


https://www.surreylangleyskytrain.ca/-/m...ts/media-resources/sls_roll_plot_web.pdf


https://www.surreylangleyskytrain.ca/-/m...ts/media-resources/sls_roll_plot_web.pdf

[dpogue]

Federal government announced $14.9B for transit projects this morning, which should be enough to cover (at least) the full extension out to Langley.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-transit-fund-1.5908346

[officedweller]

Nice.

PS - those bents east of 140th Station to hold up the storage track will look awful!

They should instead add switches farther west and run a storage track to the south on the hydro RoW to kick start a branch line to Newton.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Federal government announced $14.9B for transit projects this morning, which should be enough to cover (at least) the full extension out to Langley.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-transit-fund-1.5908346

A few details:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans today for the federal government to spend an additional $14.9 billion over the next eight years on public transportation projects across the country.

The funding includes $5.9 billion in short-term funding that will be disbursed on a project-by-project basis, starting this year.

The rest is to go toward the creation of a permanent transit fund of $3 billion per year starting in 2026. Money from that fund will be earmarked following consultations with provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous communities.

Trudeau said the permanent transit fund is meant to provide stable funding so municipalities can build and expand their public transit systems. He made the announcement virtually alongside the federal infrastructure and environment ministers, Canada Infrastructure Bank chair Tamara Vrooman and Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson.

...

Trudeau said the funding could be used for everything from subway extensions and electrified transit fleets to walkways, cycling pathways and projects to improve rural mobility.

...

Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna's spokesperson Chantalle Aubertin said that, unlike previous infrastructure commitments, the new money will not be divided up between provinces but will instead put into a pot that can be accessed whenever a project is ready.

"The [previous] allocations are by province, with some provinces hardly accessing any funding at all for public transit, while others with more ambition have met or exceeded their federal allocation," said Aubertin. "That's why we are investing $5.9 billion of new money over five years to accelerate job-creating projects across the country on a project-by-project basis."

...

...and of course

Andrew Scheer, the Conservative Party's infrastructure critic, accused the Liberal government of being slow to share out infrastructure funds.

"For months, municipalities have raised concerns that slow approvals from the Trudeau Liberals are causing projects to be severely held back," Scheer said in a media statement. "Justin Trudeau hopes you will be fooled by his promises for the future when he cannot get the job done today. Canadians deserve better."

[Sheba]

SkyTrain to UBC and Langley still not a done deal even with Federal transit funding in place

Metro Vancouver is one stop closer to SkyTrain arriving in Langley and to UBC but the trains aren’t yet in the station.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans Wednesday to spend $14.9 billion over the next eight years on public transportation projects across Canada. This includes $5.9 billion in short-term funding and the rest goes towards the creation of a permanent $3 billion per year transit fund starting in 2026.

Mayors’ Council chair Jonathan Cote says the money is much needed and appreciated but it is still unclear how it will be allocated for major projects in Metro Vancouver.

The Mayors’ Council has been advocating for stable federal funding in part to support the extension of in-progress projects including the Broadway extension to UBC and the Surrey SkyTrain extension into Langley.

“The devil is going to be in in the details, and we don’t have the full details of this program yet,” Cote said.

“It’s hard to answer exactly what the impact will be but based on the initial announcement, I would say it actually looks really positive to having the mayor’s 10-year plan back on track. And big projects like SkyTrain the Langley I think might be one of the first big projects to potentially be assisted by this new fund.”

The extension of the SkyTrain from Surrey into Langley is expected to cost $3.1 billion. The BC NDP promised to fund the province’s share during the election campaign when Premier John Horgan was re-elected.

...

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

i cant believe they dont have this project ready for tender. 10yrs ago it should have been ready for tender, just sitting on a shelf for the cheque to come. maybe do some updating, and bam, its good. the mayors council is pretty damn useless.

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i cant believe they dont have this project ready for tender. 10yrs ago it should have been ready for tender, just sitting on a shelf for the cheque to come. maybe do some updating, and bam, its good. the mayors council is pretty damn useless.

It might be because the Mayor's council rather hold to get the funding for it to reach Langley right away instead of terminating at 166th street (Stage 1) as originally allotted with the prior 1.5 billion in federal funding.

[rpvan]

Hopefully some of this funding goes towards pushing the line to Langley. Construction start was originally planned for 2022, correct?

NEW TRANSPORTATION FUNDING MAY HELP PUSH SURREY TO LANGLEY SKYTRAIN EXTENSION
https://604now.com/federal-funding-surrey-to-langley-skytrain-extension/

[Metro-One]

Honestly I can’t see how this funding can’t go towards extending the Expo Line to Langley in a single phase.

All the detailed design work is being doing for the entire project (not just phase one).
This project is the text book definition of shovel ready that it is to break ground next year.
It makes logistical sense to build this project as a single phase rather than in two.
The provincial government has already promised their share for full build.

All the ducks are in a row for this one.

[scottN]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Honestly I can’t see how this funding can’t go towards extending the Expo Line to Langley in a single phase.

All the detailed design work is being doing for the entire project (not just phase one).
This project is the text book definition of shovel ready that it is to break ground next year.
It makes logistical sense to build this project as a single phase rather than in two.
The provincial government has already promised their share for full build.

All the ducks are in a row for this one.

No doubt the Liberals are doing the announcement in phases so they can maximize the political exposure by announcing the same funding multiple times.

[Express691]

Not sure if anyone is interested but Here is the Expo Line upgrade strategy from 2010 found on the archives

http://web.archive.org/web/2016052723515...de%20Strategy%20%20Project%20Summary.pdf

[rpvan]

First news update in about a month.

SkyTrain to Langley ready for federal bucks: Lower Mainland mayors
https://biv.com/article/2021/03/skytrain-langley-ready-federal-bucks-lower-mainland-mayors?amp


Here's a snippet from the article:

Today, mayors across B.C.’s Lower Mainland urged the federal government to prioritize funding for the extension.

The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation says the SkyTrain project is “shovel ready” but waiting for federal money.

The entire project is 16 kilometres of elevated train tracks, including eight stations, from downtown Surrey to Langley city centre. However, only the first half of the extension is funded with $1.6 billion, including $500 million from the federal government. Another $1.5 billion is needed to extend the line to Langley.

[logicbomb]

Spoke to a planner today. There was confidence towards the end of 2020 of commitment from the provincial government but it now dounds like the provincial government has put this on the backburner. There was zero mention of this project in the recent budget. Sounds like the region will instead see billions of dollars go towards housing and the Cloverdale hospital.

[Metro-One]

Jesus Christ, if the NDP drop the ball in this, a major transportation project, in a time when the feds have announced major funds for transportation projects, that will be their worst decision since taking office. Even worse than cancelling the GMB and deferring the highway projects in the Okanagan.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

Spoke to a planner today. There was confidence towards the end of 2020 of commitment from the provincial government but it now dounds like the provincial government has put this on the backburner. There was zero mention of this project in the recent budget. Sounds like the region will instead see billions of dollars go towards housing and the Cloverdale hospital.

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Jesus Christ, if the NDP drop the ball in this, a major transportation project, in a time when the feds have announced major funds for transportation projects, that will be their worst decision since taking office. Even worse than cancelling the GMB and deferring the highway projects in the Okanagan.

It sucks, but in 2021 you're going to gain a lot more political goodwill from building hospitals and suburban housing than from building "crowded, cramped" public transit. Even if no spread has ever been linked to public transportation, it's definitely not seen kindly right now.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Depends on whether they're putting it off 1-2 years or 5-10; if the latter, heads should roll.

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by chowhou

It sucks, but in 2021 you're going to gain a lot more political goodwill from building hospitals and suburban housing than from building "crowded, cramped" public transit. Even if no spread has ever been linked to public transportation, it's definitely not seen kindly right now.

Sucks but true. I try and envison a scenario where we see rapid transit in Surrey in this decade but the region still has one hospital and a rapidly growing population. They are also going on a rapid spending spree to preserve housing for the homeless.

Ideally, we should be really prioritizing funds for transpotation projects in the fastest growing region in BC.

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Depends on whether they're putting it off 1-2 years or 5-10; if the latter, heads should roll.

Really seems like it won't be this decade unless the Libs promise it and take control.

[Migrant_Coconut]

The same Libs that didn't even care about the Broadway one until it was a swing issue? Don't hold your breath.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

The same Libs that didn't even care about the Broadway one until it was a swing issue? Don't hold your breath.

You mean - the same Libs who actively blocked public transit in Metro Van by forcing any new projects to a referendum? Don't hold your breath.

[Klazu]

Yay! Billions to build what will likely be more crackhouses. Endless amount of money to benefit maybe 1,000 people instead of hundreds of thousands of commuters on their way to pay for those same taxes.

I can only endorse the plan to build hospitals and fund ambulances. Burnaby hospital would also need some serious reno.