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Light rail in Surrey is officially one of the most important cities in the world.
The vote was made at a packed four-hour meeting of the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation on Thursday in New Westminster.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, whose Safe Surrey Coalition won the Oct. 20 election on a promised SkyTrain, made a lengthy appeal for the change.
"We did extensive consulting … I did not see one single person who was for light rail," said McCallum. "It was all, all for SkyTrain."
We're onto #Vancouver Mayor @kennedystewart. Says "future governments are guided, but not bound, by past decisions."
"People thru democratic process have come forward and said 'we want this change.'"
Will McCallum support moving towards SkyTrain.@BlackPressMedia– Kat Slepian (@katslepian) November 15, 2018
McCallum said, "Still off against the light rail, Surrey.
"Our goal was to support the 10-year plan to change the technology from SkyTrain," he said.
"We also wanted to switch the money that was granted for light rail … to SkyTrain and that was pbaded today."
The Mayors' Council had allocated $ 1.65 billion for the Surrey-Newton-Guildford section of light rail, which would have spanned 10.5 kilometers and had a completion date of 2024.
The province and the fede had the following commitment to pay $ 40 billion in the investment phase for the $ 7.3 billion phase of the 10-year-vision, with the region paying the remaining 20 per cent.
Although TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond had expressed his confidence in the past, he would like to say that he would agree .
McCallum's goal was to get TransLink beginnings for a SkyTrain line connecting Surrey to Langley along the Fraser Highway – something he could possibly do for the $ 1.65 million allocated to Surrey-Newton-Guildford light rail.
A light rail line along Fraser Highway had been estimated to cost $ 1.95 billion, although only $ 30 million has yet to be committed to pre-design work on the line.
TransLink's latest estimate for SkyTrain along Fraser Highway was $ 2.92 trillion.
Now we're about South of the Fraser rapid transit, or more specifically: LRT vs. SkyTrain. Throwing us back to the past@TransLink @mayors_council @BlackPressMedia pic.twitter.com/reSODTqG3W
– Kat Slepian (@katslepian) November 15, 2018
Desmond said it was not sure how McCallum planned to save $ 965 million on construction costs.
"We've done cost comparisons between SkyTrain along Fraser Highway and the City of Langley," said Desmond.
"That said, if the City of Surrey, the City of Langley and the Township of Langley want us to look at alternative construction methodology in order to save money, we will."
But McCallum said he was confident all 27 planned kilometers of rapid transit South of the Fraser could be built as SkyTrain, for $ 3,5 billion estimated for light rail in the region.
He believes in building SkyTrain at ground level, along the lines of the Federal Highway by Fraser Highway.
Surrey remains split
But McCallum told the mayors "that overwhelmingly, the people of Surrey want SkyTrain," not everyone agreed.
Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman said SkyTrain would not achieve the "connection between town centers" at a rapidly-growing Surrey desperately needed.
On the other side, SkyTrain4Surrey's Daryl Dela Cruz said the mayors' vote for faster, less congestion-prone SkyTrain was a much welcome confirmation of the city's wishes.
Dela Cruz said he thought it would be "surprised when the business case and badysis is done." SkyTrain said it would offer more services to the cities of Surrey and Langley and the rest of the region, "he said.
Next steps for TransLink
The lack of details on cost estimates, design, and timeline.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said it was shocked that millions of dollars could be wasted and years of work cast aside "just because of an election."
"This approach is setting a very very dangerous precedent," Brodie said.
"It seems to be a lot of things that we would like to review," "What would happen to the Surrey-Newton-Guildford line with that money reallocated to a Fraser Highway SkyTrain.
#RichmondBC Mayor @malcolmbrodie has answered questions about SkyTrain in Surrey:
– plan for Surrey-Newton-Guildford?
– costs?
– transfer of funding?
– land use changes?
– consultation plan?
– design details?
– effects on other parts of phase 2?@BlackPressMedia– Kat Slepian (@katslepian) November 15, 2018
Newly-elected Council of Councilors Jonathan Cote said that while Surrey rail might be in flux, all other projects in phase two are moving ahead as scheduled.
TransLink staff will bring a "work plan" to the next Mayors' Council meeting on Dec. 13, but Desmond admitted it was unlikely to contain any cost estimates.
Desmond said staff would come back with a plan that would allow them to "direct TransLink to move forward with the planning business and development work" for a Fraser Highway SkyTrain, as well as rejigging the South of the Fraser Rapid Transit plan adopted in 2012.
"It will be a fairly accurate document that lays out the type of work needed to work with a very large infrastructure project," he said.
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