TransLink has made several amendments to its new Richmond bus network proposal, following a second round of public consultation earlier this year.
While most of the proposed changes were received positively — as there will be quicker, overall bus service to accommodate more residents in the next 10 years — there was some public uproar.
Hence, TransLink altered some of its recommendations and another round of consultation has been extended to Dec. 10 (see below). After that, TransLink is expected to finalize its Southwest Area Transit Plan.
The biggest complaint came at the recommended cancellation of the 480 bus to University of B.C.
Senior transit planner Rex Hodgson said TransLink will now recommend keeping the 480 with the future option to move it to peak period service only.
Another big about-face by TransLink is to keep the C92 on Sea Island. Hodgson said employers of the airport’s south terminal complained about how the new 407 route would not pass by them. Now, the C92 is back and the 407 will no longer be diverted over the Dinsmore Bridge, as originally proposed.
The 407 will now turn down Lansdowne Road, instead of Westminster Highway, as it does now. This means Oval Village residents can better access the Walmart and the Garden City Lands, as the 407 is routed along Garden City Road on its way to/from Bridgeport Station.
Out east, the 405 will be a north-south route but it will now pass along Shell Road, between Bridgeport Road and the dyke, to pass by industrial workplaces and the new Parc Riviera condo development.
However, this means the 405 will no longer be routed on Westminster Highway and turn down Garden City Road to City Centre.
Thus, the many newer townhomes and apartments in the MacNeil secondary/Anderson elementary quadrant will see less frequent service, a tradeoff Hodgson concedes and something TransLink will keep an eye on.
To ease the loss of the 405 there, Hodgson returned the 404 back to its original route (TransLink originally proposed the 404 running north-south from Bridgeport Station). And, the C96 has been reinstated.
In Hamilton, the 410 will be more frequent and TransLink will be studying ways to make the route bypass Queensborough Bridge traffic. The 410 will be diverted away from the Fraserwood Way industrial park, which will be directly served by the C98.
Meanwhile, the 10-year plan calls for a community bus to connect Riverport to the new industrial park and existing Port of Vancouver lands near No. 8 Road and Blundell, via a new road.
Out west, the 401 will be split into the 401(west) and 401(east). The 401w will become a “frequent” bus route with buses running every seven minutes and off-peak service of 15 minutes.
Steveston will see many changes.
A sixth bus is now being recommended to depart from the Village, then go along Steveston Highway and then along No. 3 Road.
Recommendations for the C93 to extend to London Landing will remain.
“It’s an area that’s seen a lot of development recently, so it’s an area we wanted to fill,” said Hodgson.
And the 402 will be diverted all the way up No. 2 Road, to the Richmond Olympic Oval, then along River Road to Aberdeen Station and finally Bridgeport Station.
Hodgson said TransLink is hoping to diversify the number of Canada Line stations that see bus routes.
West Richmond buses such as the 401, 407 and 410 will be split in two routes. Doing so reduces delays from bottlenecks, said Hodgson.
See Translink.ca/Plans-and-Projects and/or email [email protected].
