City councillors have agreed to spend $50,000 to study the possibility of running the historic Steveston Interurban Tram from its barn on Moncton Street and No. 1 Road to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery.
City planners will now investigate the feasibility of the tram running on one of two routes to the cannery: either along No.1 Road to Bayview Street, or more directly along Moncton Street.
The study will include a business case analysis, transportation and engineering analysis of the scope and costs to retrofit the tram to be operational, and the capital and operating costs required for the tram itself.
It’s not the first time the city has considered running the tram through Steveston. Between 2002 and 2005, city council mulled several route options in the village and costs were estimated.
In 2004, costs to lay track, provide stations, road crossings, crossing protections and power were estimated at $2.5 million from Moncton and No. 1 Road to the cannery – the same route staff will investigate this time around.
A tram route from Britannia Shipyards to Moncton and No. 1 Road was estimated from $1.9 million to $2 million in 2004, and $2.9 million from the London Farm area to Britannia Shipyards.
The new study will also investigate traffic control, alteration of the roadways to permit laying of track, cost of laying the track, safety features of crossings and provision of stations.
In 2005, city council passed a resolution “that Council abandon any tram routing options in Steveston.”
Today, the tram is being restored and is on display in Steveston Park as a historical artefact in the city’s collection.
Bought in 1913, Tram 1220 was transferred to the Steveston Interurban Restoration Society from the Royal BC Museum in 1993.
