Editor:
The City of Burnaby draft transportation plan, while long overdue, demonstrates that this council clearly understands that mobility for all residents and businesses must be treated as a high and pressing priority.
Having led the development of numerous transportation planning strategies for various levels of government and in the private sector across the world, I commend the work by city staff and their professional advisors in what I see as a generally comprehensive approach to the challenges of moving us around for the next three decades.
And what we can see in this draft is an integrated vision, parts of which I advanced with the previous mayor, that, unfortunately with short-sightedness, was considered fanciful at the time. What I am most pleased to see is the intention to engage TransLink to potentially expand rapid transit. While Burnaby is well served with east-west rail capacity, we have all experienced the woefully poor north-south connectivity. For example, in the near-term, the Willingdon corridor, with a dedicated connection between Hastings and Metrotown would be ideal for rapid bus, and as demand builds, then some form of light-rail might very well work. The corridor is certainly wide enough, and if this means displacing some vehicle traffic, welcome to reality.
Naysayers may point out the grades on Willingdon, especially south of Moscrop, will be a challenge, not to mention the high risk of NIMBYism along what is mostly a single-family corridor.
Yet, serious attention to mobility, sustainability, and housing affordability means solutions must be found as change is inevitable, preferably sooner than later. I would only implore council to use the city’s deep financial reserves to start buying land in the corridor for future station locations, plus finding an area, possibly near the freeway, for an operations yard.
No plan is perfect, which is why a third phase of consultations will soon be underway. From my perspective, even more attention is needed to North-South connectivity, especially to connect the Gilmore station to the exciting expansion to come at Burnaby Hospital, while the massive investment at Lougheed Mall is now better connected to Port Moody and New Westminster, than with central Burnaby. Some creativity is warranted, and possibly further engagement with both TransLink along with the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways is needed before council gives final consideration to this progressive undertaking.
For example, a perfect opportunity exists right now to better integrate land-use planning efforts that the city has underway for the Bainbridge Village area. The Sperling-Kensington corridor, which connects to Canada Way, Highway 1, and north to the Lochdale future development area needs greater attention. Respectfully, I must say the vision in the draft Bainbridge Village plan document is disappointingly weak, timid even, with regards to the need for much greater levels of density to take advantage of the incredibly under-utilized Sperling Station. Burnaby has no other north-south corridor that can intersect with the high capacity east-west network along Lougheed and the Millennium Line to achieve the highest levels of density that can truly support sustainable outcomes. Regrettably, I see a considerable disconnect between the statements in the draft transportation plan about integration with land-use planning, and what is now evident with the lackluster approach to the huge chunk of land coming available from the future redevelopment of the Saputo and Telus sites.
Come on Burnaby, the threats of NIMBYism must not impede a proper integration of land-use and transportation planning in this area, or anywhere in the city for that matter.
In sum, the draft transportation plan is a great start, but without better attention to mobility solutions that pull together the north-south divide, along with taking far greater advantage of the under-utilized lands near Sperling and Lougheed can mean a huge lost opportunity. I look forward to the final draft to council rectifying these pressing issues, along with addressing the many inputs from others in Burnaby so mobility can remain at the forefront of a sustainable future city.
Joe Sulmona, Burnaby.
