Artist’s rendering shows what a station along Fraser Highway may look like. (TransLink photo.)

The public engagement process for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project is set to begin in April, according to a corporate report from Surrey staff.

In the Monday (April 1) agenda, it says council will be given an update on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain (SLS) project, which will include TransLink’s work plan and information on the upcoming public engagement process.

RELATED: First look at Surrey SkyTrain renderings along Fraser Highway

Based on TransLink’s proposed work plan, the public engagement process will start in April with the preliminary design and costing in May/June.

Then in July, there will be a draft business case presented to the mayor’s council, with finalized reference design, costs and business case in November/December.

The timeline states that the construction would be from 2021 to 2025 and start of service would be in 2025, both pending the approval of the business case from the provincial and federal governments.

At the same time, TransLink has started a planning process to “refresh” the South of the Fraser Rapid Transit (SoFRT) Strategy which is “consistent” with the mayor’s council’s 10-year vision of building 27 km of rapid transit on three corridors: 104th Avenue, King George Boulevard and Fraser Highway.

The first round public engagement for the SLS project and the SoFRT refresh will take place between April 8 and 26. It will give people an opportunity to: learn about rapid transit planning for work on Fraser Highway, 104th Avenue and King George Boulevard; share thoughts on priorities for transit, opportunities for these corridors; and complete a survey that will help to inform planning work.

The public engagement process will include an online survey, open houses and pop-up events in Surrey City Centre, Newton, Fleetwood, Guildford and Langley. For more information, visit surreylangleyskytrain.ca.

According to the corporate report from the engineering department, TransLink’s work plan has a “proposed duration of 15 months from initiation to the issuance of the request for qualifications, subject to review and approval timelines from other levels of government.”

Preliminary work on a SkyTrain alignment was developed in 2016 and 2017 as part of a comparison analysis for rapid transit alternatives, according to the report. It included conceptual alignment and station locations along Fraser Highway, costs and ridership projections, estimate of vehicle fleet, a potential bus exchange in Langley and a new maintenance facility.

A map included in the report shows some of the proposed stops along Fraser Highway, with several in “urban centres” such as 140th Street, 160th Street and 164th Street. There are also stops for “frequent transit development area,” such as 162nd Street and 190th Street. The concept alignment and station locations are “being reviewed as part of the current work plan.”

The report says work is “proceeding quickly and on schedule” by using the conceptual work and including recent experience from the Evergreen SkyTrain project.

Also on the agenda for Monday, there is also a report for the Fraser Highway SkyTrain Corridor for a land use planning review and related official community plan updates. Council will be voting to authorize staff to start preliminary planning and background studies; amend the Surrey Official Community Plan Bylaw, 2013, No. 18020; and set a date for public hearing.

Studies include a market assessment, environmental study, heritage study, growth forecasts, transportation review, servicing review and stakeholder inventory.

READ ALSO: TransLink reveals new plans for proposed Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, Dec. 9, 2018

READ ALSO: Surrey council unanimously passes motion to ‘cancel’ LRT, Nov. 5, 2018



lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com

Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram and follow Lauren on Twitter