Many unanswered questions are swirling around the future of transit in Metro Vancouver, with new mayors in Vancouver and Surrey trying to alter the region’s 10-year plan in the hopes of getting more SkyTrain lines in their cities.
A Burnaby city councillor wants an answer to one of those unknowns: How much will it cost local taxpayers if plans for a Millennium Line extension to UBC and SkyTrain to Langley go ahead?
Coun. Dan Johnston brought forward a motion during a Monday council meeting, asking city staff to study the costs and report back.
“I’m curious what that’s going to cost Burnaby,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I think there’s going to be cost implications to the city.”
The city is not directly affected by the proposed new infrastructure, but its citizens will likely have to carry some of the financial burden via increased TransLink fares and various taxes, Johnston said.
He said he supports new Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s plan to extend the new Broadway line all the way to the UBC campus, rather than have it end at Arbutus Street.
Johnston said he’s less convinced about the plan from Surrey’s new mayor, Doug McCallum, to scrap plans for light rapid transit in favour of SkyTrain. Millions of dollars have already been spent on engineering studies for LRT, but last week the regional Mayors’ Council voted to suspend those plans and start planning for a new SkyTrain line through Surrey.
“Sometimes I think politics cost us millions more, sometimes politics make a better decision. So it’s kind of mixed,” Johnston said.
