Burnaby City Council endorses SFU gondola plan

Supporters of the proposed gondola between a Burnaby SkyTrain station and the Simon Fraser University campus gained another ally this week.
The Burnaby City Council has endorsed the proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola, favouring the so-called "Route 1" option that would see the gondola run directly from Production Way-University Station to SFU, over the city's Forest Grove neighbourhood.
A survey conducted for TransLink in 2020 found that, while most respondents supported the gondola proposal, many residents of Forest Grove were not.
In a news release announcing the council's endorsement of Route 1, the city stressed that none of the five towers required for the proposed route would need to be built in the neighbourhood.
“The Burnaby Mountain Gondola project will create a safe and reliable transit option for Burnaby residents travelling to and from Burnaby Mountain," said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley in the city's release.
"By taking cars and buses off the road it will be one of the many changes we must make in our city to achieve the aggressive targets we’ve set for reducing carbon emissions,” he added. “Before endorsing this project, council stressed the importance of consultation with residents, businesses and First Nations, and we expect that dialogue to continue should this project move forward.”
SFU and the Simon Fraser Student Society have also endorsed the project, for which they've been advocating for years.
In a statement Friday, the SFSS lauded the city council's decision as "a massive win."
"After a decade of advocacy from the student body, we are able to celebrate and look forward to the positive impacts this will have for students, the SFU community, and Burnaby as a whole," said Matthew Provost, vice president of external and community affairs for the SFSS, in the statement.
The SFSS says nearly three-quarters of SFU students rely on public transit, and more than half of that group uses TransLink's number 145 bus, which the gondola would replace.
The fate of the project now rests with the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation, which oversees TransLink and sets the transit provider's investment priorities.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Outages persist across Ontario and Quebec, toll rises
Power outages caused by the powerful and deadly storm that swept across Ontario and Quebec on Saturday are stretching into another day, as hydro providers warned customers they could be waiting even longer for service to be fully restored.

200 bodies found in Mariupol as war rages in Ukraine's east
Workers digging through the rubble of an apartment building in Mariupol found 200 bodies in the basement, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, as more horrors come to light in the ruined city that has seen some of the worst suffering of the 3-month-old war.
11 killed in shooting attacks on 2 bars in Mexico
Eleven people, eight of them women, were killed in simultaneous shooting attacks on two bars in north-central Mexico, authorities said Tuesday.
EXCLUSIVE | Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal on his journey to Canada's highest court
Justice Mahmud Jamal sat down with CTV National News' Omar Sachedina for an exclusive interview ahead of the one-year anniversary of his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jamal is the first person of colour to sit on the highest court in the country, bringing it closer to reflecting the diversity of Canada.
Trudeau faces chants, pounding drums as he walks through crowd at Kamloops memorial
The prime minister made comments following a memorial gathering in Kamloops to mark one year since the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced the remains of up to 215 children were detected at a former school site.
Davos climate focus: Can 'going green' mean oil and gas?
As government officials, corporate leaders and other elites at the World Economic Forum grapple with how to confront climate change and its devastating effects, a central question is emerging: to what extent can oil and gas companies be part of a transition to lower-carbon fuels?
Canadian study finds link between air pollution and severity of COVID-19 infection
An extensive study of thousands of COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals found links between the severity of their infections and the levels of common air pollutants they experience.
Beijing ramps up COVID quarantines, Shanghai residents decry uneven rules
Beijing stepped up quarantine efforts to end its month-old COVID outbreak as fresh signs of frustration emerged in Shanghai, where some bemoaned unfair curbs with the city of 25 million preparing to lift a prolonged lockdown in just over a week.
Conservative party ends its investigation into complaint about a racist email
The Conservative Party of Canada says its ended its investigation into a racist email sent to leadership contender Patrick Brown's campaign team after the party member purportedly behind it resigned their membership.