Daily Hive
Some mayors in Metro Vancouver are expressing their doubts on Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum’s plan to reverse course on the Surrey Newton-Guildford (SNG) LRT and redirect funds towards building a SkyTrain extension on the Fraser Highway.
Re-elected New Westminster mayor Jonathan Cote told Daily Hive his neighbour’s new position on transit expansion creates a “dilemma” for the 10-year Mayors’ Plan. …
His counterpart in Richmond also agreed, with re-elected mayor Malcolm Brodie calling McCallum’s plan “ill-conceived.” While Brodie knows the existing makeup of the Mayors’ Council would disagree with the move, he is not sure what the consensus will be within the new Mayors’ Council given that there are 13 new mayors in TransLink’s governance body.
Brodie added that it will “take years” to do the new planning work required for SkyTrain, if LRT is abandoned. The largest issue will deal with filling in the funding gap for the superior alternative.
“The first thing that’ll have to be done is they will need to find the extra money to pay for it. Surrey will be asking for a premium type of service, and they will have to pay the increment or find the money,” said Brodie. “I don’t think there will be regional sources for that money.” …