MP Dianne Watts' successful motion for a federal study of safety in the South Surrey-White Rock rail corridor is receiving unreserved endorsement from Erik Seiz, president of the Crescent Beach Property Owner Association.
The motion by the South Surrey-White Rock MP, Conservative critic for infrastructure and communities, was passed Monday by the federal Standing Committee for Transport Infrastructure and Communities, and terms of reference and a list of witnesses are expected to determined shortly.
Seiz, heavily featured in news releases issued by Watts on the motion and it's subsequent adoption, said he believes the tack Watts is taking – having the committee review all the issues relating to the safety of the line through both communities – is "an important approach."
"The study is the fruition of a lot of work that has taken place over the years in identifying the risks of the corridor and the high probability of failures within the corridor," he said. "It's wonderful to see movement forward in addressing this."
Seiz – who has been active in highlighting the problems of the corridor – said that while he recognizes that some critics of the rail line take a 'relocation-or-nothing' approach, he feels the "necessary first step is to understand the risks and liabilities and the things that could be done to mitigate them."
"There are any number of things that could be looked at – short-term solutions as well as things that might be need to be done later on," he said. "It's an evolution."
Seiz said the committee may look at such items as reducing the volume and frequency of traffic in the short term, as well as diverting some goods to other routes."
At the same time, he added, the committee should be looking at a long-term horizon for planning future rail traffic in the area, which he said has an impact on the entire south-of-Fraser region.
"We have to ask where do we expect to be five years, 10 years, even 50 years from now. Where do we expect Canada-U.S. trade to be – do we expect it to be any less?"
Seiz said that taking a long-term view – which includes regional issues such as the planned Massey bridge and dyking of the Delta floodplain – could make for better transportation-related decisions in the short term – "so that we're not slapping our foreheads 10 years from now and saying why didn't we do that?"