Months after TransLink chose SkyTrain over light rail, transit riders from Surrey and Langley can get an idea of how the new SkyTrain stations will look.
The images show two concepts for what the new stations might look like for the proposed 17-kilometre extension running from King George Station, along the Fraser Highway and ending at Langley Centre.
TransLink spokesperson Jill Drews said they are happy to see how interested the public is in the plan, but noted there is still work to be done.
“Right now, we are updating the cost-estimate and determining how far along Fraser Highway the line could be constructed with the already approved funding,” said Drews in an email to CTV News.
“Determining the locations and designs of stations is part of this process.”
The project’s website says there is approximately $1.6 billion remaining in funding for the project – the original cost of the project was estimated at $2.9 billion.
TransLink’s Mayors’ Council endorsed the SkyTrain extension after Surrey City Council cancelled a proposed light rail project in November 2018.
A month later, the Mayors’ Council told TransLink to begin planning and developing the proposed Surrey-Langley extension.
“We've done the figuring," Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said in October 2018. "The $1.65 billion that the federal government has committed to rapid transit lines in Surrey—we can build the SkyTrain along the Fraser Highway from our city centre through Fleetwood, Clayton and into Langley for that figure."
McCallum cited the Evergreen Line as proof, saying that extension covers roughly the same distance, and would cost around $1.4 billion to build.
However, the Evergreen Line is less than 11 kilometres long and cost $1.43 billion to build.
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote was critical of McCallum’s decision to abandon the planned LRT line.
"Over $50 million has already been spent on that project and I think it would be step backwards to pull the plug," said Cote.
An environmental assessment is still to be completed, and the project has yet to be approved by federal and provincial authorities, as well as the TransLink Board of Directors and Mayors’ Council.
