The Province Pulls the Rug Out Under 2040 – But Will The NDP Play?
The province has sent a message to the city of Vancouver, 2040 is dead because the province will not fund a SkyTrain subway under Broadway.Ai??The Liberals know that SkyTrain is a very expensive transit mode with thier experience with theAi??Canada Line P-3. The politcal fallout from the Canada Line big dig has also hurt the BC Liberals, as well as the City of VancouverAi??and TransLink with their underhanded approach, by offeringAi??local merchants absolutely no compensation (the only cut-and-cover metro project in the USA and Europe to do so) especially on Cambie St. whose businesses were all but bankrupted by the ‘big dig’.
With Surrey wanting light rail and the pressure from the RftV/Leewood Study that shows that a TramTrain service from Vancouver to Chillliwack is affordable, even an hourly service from Vancouver to Chilliwack, using diesel LRT would cost about half of that of the Evergreen Line, (It is interesting to note that theAi??River LineAi??Diesel LRT in New Jersey was back in service two days after Hurricane Sandy) makes a $3 billion to $4.5 billion investment in a SkyTrain subway to UBC a political liability.
The NDP, who have been ‘dumber than dishwater’ about regional transit may have different ideas, especiallyAi??if they listenAi??former premier Harcourt or former MLA Joy MacPhail and their surrogate, Vancouver councilor Geoff Meggs,Ai??who like common hucksters,Ai??try to sellAi??SkyTrain to all who could listen.
No one in Vancouver will admit to the fact that modern light rail has made SkyTrain obsolete two decades agoAi??and is the reason why no one builds with the mode any more. Yet, it seems the city of Vancouver and all who sail in her has made a SkyTrain subway under Broadway the lynch-pin of 2040.
It’s time to get modern LRT back on the table and the province to tell Vancouver council it is at-grade/on-street LRT or nothing. Sadly I do not think provincial politicans either from the BC Liberals or the NDP have the moral fibre to do it, so for the time being more roads and highways are on the menu – blacktop politics rules BC.
Broadway Corridor not a priority for provincial government
No plans to fund rapid transit
Jason HoweNov 01, 2012
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s Vancouver’s top transit priority, but now the city has to make sure the Broadway Corridor is on the radar of others.
The province, for instance, is nowhere near ready to provide funding for it.
Rapid transit along Broadway is key to Vancouver hitting its goal of getting two thirds of city trips being made without a car.
BC’s Transportation Minister Mary Polak says the region will need to give Broadway top ranking before the province considers putting up some money. “We know the biggest priority is for the mayors’ council and TransLink to have their priorities lined up for the future and to also solidify with them what their plans are for future funding.”
Polak also notes funding for SkyTrain involves many partners. “Those are projects that are negotiated contributions between all three levels of government, and so it’s far too early to be talking about what kind of a price tag that would look like.”
Polak includes she has not had any specific discussions about the Broadway Corridor.
