Over the past several months, local governments, the province, and federal government have been focused on getting by day-to-day. This has left little energy to think about medium-term projects. With COVID-19 emergency management shifting from the initial response phase to recovery phase, work is now beginning on how we can move forward in our region.
One of the major projects in Metro Vancouver is to expand the SkyTrain from King George to Fleetwood, and then into Langley.
The pre-COVID-19 plan was to have an updated “Phase Two” investment plan approved this summer which included extending SkyTrain to Fleetwood, but with COVID-19 negatively impacting the economy and therefor TransLink’s financial plans, this investment plan was put on pause.
This does not mean that the Surrey Langley SkyTrain project is cancelled, work is still ongoing. The following table highlights work completed, and next steps for this project.
| Business case submitted to Provincial and Federal Governments | Submitted in January 2020 |
| Government review of business case | In-Progress |
| Compensation agreement | Awaiting final direction from Mayors’ Council |
| Procurement documents complete | Targeted for July |
| Third-party agreements | In-Progress |
| Environmental screening and 3rd round of engagement | In-Progress |
It is now looking like the updated “Phase Two” investment plan will be moved forward with an estimated fall completion date.
With the federal government and provincial government now looking at “economic stimulus” to help in the COVID-19 recovery process, this project could benefit from enhanced funding from the federal and/or provincial governments.
The original plan was to extend SkyTrain to Langley in two phases, will it now be able to occur in one phase?
As noted in a TransLink staff report that will be addressed at the May 28th Mayors’ Council meeting, “despite the uncertainty of the pandemic, the project’s business case is still sound; SLS is a crucial addition to the region’s transportation system to support regional growth in the decades to come.”
Even with the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our region, I am confident that SkyTrain will be extended to Langley. It might even happen in one phase instead of two which would be good news for Langley residents and businesses.
1 comment:
Ending the SKYTRAIN extension in Fleetwood makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Where is the gian park n ride going to be built on the Fraser highway? Too late now but there should have been a rail line run right out the middle of HWY 1 with giant park n rides dotted along the line all the way to Abbotsford.
David Chesney/White Rock
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