91原创 residents will soon have an opportunity to comment on more than proposed for Metro Vancouver.
The public consultation event, one of eight 鈥減op-up鈥� forums organized by TransLink, will run from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, at the Willowbrook Shopping Centre.
The meetings were announced when the second phase of the Metro Vancouver mayors鈥� 10-year transportation vision was unveiled on Monday, with a projected price tag of $7.3 billion.
Only a relatively small portion of that amount, $30 million, is earmarked for a much-discussed light rail line from Surrey to 91原创, for planning and design work.
At the Monday announcement, TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond declined to provide a construction cost estimate for the 91原创 line.
TransLink is also planning a review of the entire 91原创 bus network, particularly the community shuttles.
A B-Line bus service to connect Surrey and 91原创 along Fraser Highway is planned for 2019.
The bulk of the budgeted amount in the phase two plan includes $2.83 billion for the new Millennium Line Broadway extension in Vancouver, $1.3 billion in Expo and Millennium SkyTrain line upgrades, and $1.65 billion for the first phase of Surrey light rail.
The money will cover construction of six new SkyTrain stations along Broadway from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Street, building the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT Line along 104 Avenue, City Parkway and King George Boulevard, 108 new SkyTrain cars for the Expo and Millennium Lines, as well as 95 replacement cars for the existing fleet.
People can provide feedback online at until May 11.
The final phase two investment plan will be presented to the Mayors鈥� Council and TransLink board of directors in June.
If approved, Metro Vancouver residents would see some of the phase two improvements to services made as early as 2019.
The cost of the upgrades has risen nearly $1 billion since the last time estimates were released in 2015.
The Millennium Line improvements are up by 24 per cent ($550 million) and costs for Surrey light rail are up by 33 per cent ($410 million).
- with files from Black Press
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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