What a difference a few weeks makes.
On Oct. 20, the night of the municipal elections, some commentators and politicians were saying that Doug McCallum’s convincing win as mayor of Surrey was unlikely to stop LRT from going ahead. After all, the funding had been secured and there’d even been a photo-op with the prime minister and premier, posing with the ecstatic outgoing mayor Linda Hepner.
No one was going to derail that train. As far as they were concerned, McCallum’s pledge to stop LRT and apply all the funding to extending SkyTrain from King George station to Langley, along Fraser Highway, was just hot air. Surrey voters had been duped.
McCallum wasn’t listening to critics. He promised at his victory party to get working on SkyTrain right away. At the Nov. 5 council meeting, after council was sworn in, council agreed 9-0 to kill the LRT project and work with TransLink and the Mayors’ Council to replace it with SkyTrain. The next step will take place at the first Mayors’ Council meeting (where most of the members will be brand-new mayors) on Nov. 15.
The best proof that SkyTrain is going ahead along Fraser Highway came from TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond.
He noted on Thursday that both the federal and provincial governments do not seem to have any problem with the committed funds being used for SkyTrain. Desmond said, “one way or the other we’re going to build rail in Surrey.”
READ MORE: TransLink CEO weighs in on Surrey’s move from LRT to SkyTrain
Desmond doubts that the entire line to Langley City can be built for $1.9 billion, the amount committed by all levels of government to the LRT project. TransLink has estimated that it would cost $2.9 billion.
He is likely at least partially correct. Construction costs are high. McCallum’s suggestion that a portion of the line could be built at-grade could reduce costs, as could the use of some of the designs used for the Evergreen Line. That line was built for $1.4 billion. While somewhat shorter than the King George to Langley City line, it also includes a tunnel.
The LRT project called for acquisition of land, prices of which are at all-time highs. It is unclear how much land would have to be acquired for a new line, but along Fraser Highway some land has already been set aside to accommodate future rapid transit.
A number of observers have said that, for $1.9 billion, SkyTrain should be able to get as far as Fleetwood. Most Surrey voters will be happy to see construction advance as quickly as possible, and a line to Fleetwood is a good first step.
All indications now seem to be that the SkyTrain line will go ahead. When construction will begin is unclear, but it is certainly possible that it could be underway within 18 months or so. If there isn’t enough money to build it all the way to Langley City, it’s important to remember that Phase 3 of the Mayors’ Council 10-year plan calls for LRT to be built along Fraser Highway. That funding could easily be switched to SkyTrain.
The Mayors’ Council will push for funding of Phase 3 from senior governments as soon as possible. As those funds become available, there should be no problem in completing the line.
Frank Bucholtz writes Wednesdays for Peace Arch News.
frank.bucholtz@gmail.com