Optimistic prospects for LRT line in Surrey
Construction work on an LRT line in Surrey may be underway by 2018, fulfilling a campaign promise from Mayor Linda Hepner.
There’s a good chance that Mayor Linda Hepner’s campaign
promise of LRT coming to Surrey will be fulfilled.
Hepner initially said during the fall 2014 municipal campaign
that there would be an LRT line up and running within four years. In other words,
in time for the next election. She later backtracked slightly, saying that she
expected the line would be under construction by 2018.
Hepner was given a massive endorsement by voters, with her
Surrey First slate winning all nine council seats. Since the election, she was
named vice-chair of the Mayors Council and, along with chair and Vancouver
Mayor Gregor Robertson, pushed for a “yes” vote in a referendum on additional
funding for TransLink. That of course failed, at least partially because of
over-the-top spending by TransLink and local governments to try and ensure a
positive outcome.
However, since that time, the federal Liberals won a
majority government, winning all but one seat in Surrey in the process. That’s put
Surrey’s LRT line high on the list for infrastructure funding. The Justin
Trudeau government wants to build infrastructure projects that will create jobs
and promote a greener agenda. Electric-powered rapid transit fulfils both
objectives.
Hepner was among a number of mayors from all over the country,
members of the big city mayors’ caucus, to meet with Trudeau and other federal
representatives in Ottawa last week.
There has been some interesting discussion about this latest
round of infrastructure spending in a number of forums. Many observers are
suggesting that municipalities should not have to pay their traditional one-third
share of the capital costs of such projects.
There is a good argument to be made in that direction.
Municipalities have limited sources of revenue, with property tax being the
main one. TransLink, which is in effect an inter-municipal body, has suffered
tremendously from the limited sources of funding available to it. Its quest for
more funds has been repeatedly fought by the public, most notably in the recent
referendum.
One reason that TransLink can’t expand bus routes in a
significant way in growing cities like Surrey is the pressure it is under from capital
spending. It boosted the gas tax to help pay for the Evergreen Line project,
which is still under construction. Its inability to take on more capital projects
is one reason the Pattullo Bridge replacement project is nowhere close to
getting off the drawing board.
If Surrey or regional taxpayers only had to pay 10 per cent
towards the capital costs of the LRT line, that would make it much more likely
to proceed. It would be difficult to finance a one-third share of the cost through
property taxes or other new taxes, such as the sales tax increase rejected by
voters in the TransLink referendum.
The challenge of capital costs is one of the main reasons
that Surrey has pushed for LRT, as opposed to an expansion of SkyTrain. LRT,
because it is at-grade, is much cheaper to build. The many critics of the
Surrey LRT plans point out that travel times won’t be much different that they are
now, via bus and car. They are correct. However, unless the federal and/or
provincial governments begin to pick up a larger share of the capital costs of
the transit projects, it is unlikely that they will be built anytime soon.
Hepner has to be happy with how the planets have aligned for
LRT. It seems very likely that the construction work for at least the first
phase – the line along King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue – will be underway in
time for the next election.
That should give her some ammunition for a re-election bid in
2018.
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