With British Columbia looking ahead to a post-pandemic world, the mayor of the City of Langley says it’s time to move forward full steam with with the planned SkyTrain extension to her community.
Current funding for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain expansion will only take the line six stops from King George Station to 166th Street in Surrey’s Fleetwood neighbourhood.
Val van den Broek said the final piece of the puzzle to get the trains out to 203 Street in her city is a funding commitment from the federal government.
“We’re just waiting,” she said.
“I think they were supposed to be (ready) by end of June, I don’t know. COVID has really changed things for everyone and that’s the reality, so we’ve just had to have a little bit more patience with it.”
The B.C. government indicated its financial commitment to the project in its April budget.
Meanwhile, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun told Global News he has had discussions with Premier John Horgan about the possibility of light rapid transit from Langley once the SkyTrain project is complete.
“I think the natural from there is up Fraser Highway, we have to make a few detours because of the steep grade east of Langley Airport and then to get it to Mt. Lehman Road and I’m not sure from there,” he said.
“I’d like to see something in ten years.”
Braun says he’s also had preliminary discussions with Langley Township mayor Jack Froese.
LRT to the Fraser Valley, he said, would alleviate traffic congestion on Highway 1.