The City of Langley remains the only major regional town centre not connected to any regional rapid transit services. The funding for this kind of infrastructure is long overdue. Our co-founder, Daniel Greenhalgh, is excited for the convenience these projects will offer to people in Langley City and the Township
“We’re thrilled that the plans seem to have enough inertia to go forward. But like a lot of people in Surrey and Langley, we feel we’re about to buy the off-brand for short-term savings when the real thing would offer much more value in the long run.”
Right now, the momentum is behind the construction of a Light Rail Transit system from King George Station in Surrey along the Fraser Highway to Langley Centre – a distance of 17 km. The line would be separate from traffic but would still stop at stop lights. It would be at grade for most of the route, save for two sections where it will rise to avoid highways. The cost estimate is close to $2 billion, and will continue to rise as long as construction is delayed.
The alternative to this, which seems more and more unlikely, is an extension of the Expo Line Skytrain along the same route. Both plans have a similar number of stations, but the platform lengths for the Skytrain would be about double those of the LRT, pushing the cost to the $3 billion mark.
It was and remains a huge struggle to find funding for these massive projects, and the LRT seems like a good-enough measure that would provide big cost savings. However, closer analysis by economists and Translink-sponsored studies show that the LRT will end up costing us much more in the long term. A Skytrain extension, however, would provide a net economic gain. If we stand by those studies, the Skytrain option is a no-brainer, especially considering the huge benefits it offers in travel time, safety, reliability and possibility for future extensions.
The Skytrain option will always make more sense to citizens of Langley than citizens of Surrey. The travel time and convenience of the Skytrain mean much more to us, obviously. It would dramatically increase our property values and provide a cheaper, more convenient transportation alternative. Most people in Langley work in Burnaby or Vancouver, and this would keep and attract many more citizens for long-term living.
But when coupled with the dire economic forecasts of constructing the LRT, we can’t advocate more strongly for a re-assessment of the wisdom of pursuing that option. We still have plenty of time to pivot. Three weeks ago, the Langley City Council voted in favor of the Skytrain option and will communicate this preference to the province. The naysayers fear that asking for more funding will provide further delays and potentially compromise the entire project. Let’s take what we can get, right now, they say. But we would hope that the wisdom of buying the proven alternative will win out in the long run.
