Twelve additional Canada Line train cars and expanded station platforms to accommodate three-car trains are the highlights of Richmond’s piece of the transit plan pie proposed by Metro Vancouver’s mayors.
The Mayor’s Council is now asking residents to approve an extra 0.5 percentage point on the provincial sales tax for items paid for in Metro Vancouver. The added revenue would pay for proposed transit infrastructure improvements, the majority of which lie outside of Richmond.
The biggest proposals are two light rail lines in Surrey, a Broadway subway line from Commercial Drive to Arbutus Street in Vancouver and a replacement for the Pattullo Bridge.
The Canada Line is arguably Richmond’s biggest transit sore spot, despite being only five years old.
The single-track system to Brighouse Station, along with short platforms, has limited its capacity to move people effectively at peak periods.
More frequent and longer trains will accommodate Canada Line demands for the next 10 years only. TransLink is conducting a review of the line to determine demand over the next 30 years.
Should authorities decide to double the track, train frequency would increase furthermore.
Richmond also stands to see more frequent bus service (at least every 15 minutes through the day as well as more night service) and upgraded Highway 99 bus exchanges.
The mayors’ theory is that by improving transit, more people will opt to leave their cars behind, thus clearing congestion on the roads.
A referendum is expected on the proposed tax increase but no date has been set.
City signs up to intervene Kinder Morgan pipeline review
The City of Richmond will have opportunities to gather information and share oral and written statements of its stance on the TransMountain pipeline project during the National Energy Board’s review next year.
The city has signed up to be an intervenor in the review. Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure company, is proposing to twin an oil pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby. It will cross the Fraser River at Surrey and Richmond has concerns over jurisdictional limits of any spill clean-ups.
“Increasingly, local government agencies are being pressed to deal with spill events, even in areas of senior government jurisdiction such as the Fraser River foreshore...” stated a report to a city council committee this week.
