Today is the inaugural meeting of the TransLink Mayors’ Council, following the civic elections a few weeks ago.
The big item on the agenda: Surrey transit.
The Mayors’ Council will be asked to give TransLink the approval it needs to cancel Surrey light rail transit (LRT) and immediately start work on SkyTrain out to Langley along the Fraser Highway.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says it’s something the voters want.
LISTEN: The first meeting of the TransLink Mayors Council will be held this morning. This is the first meeting since the municipal elections delivered a huge shake-up of mayors in the region, about three-quarters of the mayors are new.
“The public wants that; over 80-per cent of the public, when we’ve been talking to them, doesn’t want light rail, they want SkyTrain. We’re going listen to the public and we’re going to get it done,” McCallum said.
WATCH: Will the federal government back Doug McCallum’s plan for Surrey SkyTrain?
Brenda Locke, who topped the polls for a seat on council, says during the election campaign it was hard to find anyone who wanted LRT.
“It is what the people wanted all along. We knocked on hundreds and thousands of doors all over the city and everybody said the same, they wanted SkyTrain. They did not want a second-rate LRT system,” Locke said.
McCallum says SkyTrain can be built for the same cost as LRT, around $1.65 billion.