Development
put in context
By Frank Bucholtz - Langley Times - May 04, 2008
A number of the concerns
that I’ve had for years about how this area is developing were put
into proper context last Saturday at the third annual VALTAC (Valley Transportation
Advisory Committee) forum.
VALTAC, as many Times readers know, was formed to try and apply pressure
on governments to do long-term transportation planning, and specifically
has pushed hard for restoration of passenger rail service along the Fraser
Valley interurban corridor, now used by freight trains.
Several of the speakers were from the downtown Vancouver anti-growth crowd.
In my view, their take on things sells well in the big city, but is of
minimal relevance here because they simply do not understand how the South
Fraser region differs from the Burrard Peninsula.
However, Stephen Rees, a planner and transportation economist, made a
whole lot more sense. Perhaps it was because he didn’t beat around
the bush.
Rees started his comments last Saturday afternoon by stating that the
Lower Mainland will keep growing “and you can’t stop it.”
Exactly.
He pointed out that the patterns of growth have changed dramatically since
the Second World War, something he attributes in part to “collective
amnesia” by planners and governments.
Prior to 1930, when planning virtually stopped because of a stagnating
economy, urban communities were centred around transit lines, the ability
to walk to shops and other activities, and higher densities.
After the war, something changed. He didn’t say so, but I attribute
it partly to the optimism felt by the young men and women who had seen
their lives put on hold by depression and war. There were jobs, there
was money, they made it back alive and they were ready to do things differently.
They bought cars. They moved farther out. Here in Langley, programs like
the Veterans’ Land Act encouraged young veterans to do so.
The interurban service ended in 1950 because few at that time thought
it had any future.
Rees’ hypothesis is that planning has been centred around the car
since 1945. He points out that municipalities set parking ratios (but
not population ratios) for every type of development, and people now use
cars to do the simplest of errands, instead of walking.
With the cost of oil (and many other driving-related expenses) rising
far faster than incomes, Rees suggests that there is a “suppressed”
demand for transit. However, it isn’t being met in this area.
Not only have politicians turned their thumbs down on reviving passenger
rail service along the interurban corridor, they are very slow to expand
transit anywhere south of the Fraser. As a Times story published April
25 points out, the South Fraser area has just one-third of the transit
service that the Burrard Peninsula gets. No wonder our planning is car-centred.
He says the benefits of rail transit, as opposed to bus transit, is that
growth is centred around a smaller number of major stops. This type of
density helps bring back the more complete communities that not only were
prevalent in the 1920s, but throughout human history.
Positive
steps
By —Frank
Bucholtz
Langley Times
Sep 21 2007
As the next phase
of Gateway consultations gets underway, there are a number of positive
steps taking place.
The first of five
open houses held by the environmental Assessment Office took place Wednesday
evening in Langley. A steady stream of citizens came by the Cascades Casino
and Convention Centre to look over documents and other information relayed
to the plan to twin the Port Mann Bridge and expand Highway 1.
Langley-based VALTAC,
which has emerged as one of the most responsible and far-sighted groups
in the ongoing discussion about Gateway, has teamed up with the Vancouver
group SPEC to focus on transit trips through something they call Transit
Lab.
What is most refreshing
about this is that SPEC, which has thus far been an unbending critic of
Gateway, is now highlighting the poor state of public transit south of
the Fraser. This is something that very few Vancouver-based groups have
bothered with in their blind opposition to the Port Mann twinning.
It’s easy to
call for more transit. It’s much harder to focus on just how far
the transit system has to go to make transit a realistic option for people
in Langley, Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.
This month marks the
first time there is actually a bus link between Aldergrove and Abbotsford.
Was this service the idea of TransLink or the municipal governments? No.
It took the actions of a feisty senior citizen, who mobilized hundreds
of Aldergrove and Abbotsford residents, to get it underway.
VALTAC has been mounting
a similar fight to have the former interurban railway line considered
for light rail between Chilliwack and Surrey, where it could easily connect
to SkyTrain. It is a low-cost alternative to expensive SkyTrain construction,
yet has not received serious consideration from either TransLink or the
province.
The facts are these.
The region south of the Fraser is one of the fastest-growing in Canada.
It has woefully inadequate transportation routes. An expanded highway
system, far more bus transit and some type of rapid transit are necessary
— and soon.
Langley
Times - Editors Opinion - July 1
Technical
challenges in the way Key Langley roads are on radar screen for help
By frankbucholtz
Jul 01 2007
A n announcement on Thursday afternoon at Langley Township hall was worth
attending — mainly to get a fuller sense of the planned improvements
to the Roberts Bank rail corridor, and learn what is planned in the future.
The most important information
I received was from Helena Borges. She’s the director general of
surface transportation for Transport Canada, based in Ottawa. But as she
said to me, she’s been spending a lot of time here lately.
She and many other senior staff
members from the federal and provincial governments, along with port,
railway, municipal and TransLink officials, worked very diligently to
identify what improvements to the corridor could be made in a relatively
short space of time — about seven years.
This level of inter-governmental
co-operation at what provincial Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon called
“lightning speed” is remarkable, particularly considering
that the federal government is not known for moving quickly on any issue.
I asked her about 200 Street
specifically, and why it was not part of the grade separations announced
on Thursday.
She said her committee did
a number of technical studies, and in the case of 200 Street, there simply
is no room to build an overpass. Commercial buildings are close to the
street, there is an intersection on the south side of the tracks at Logan
Avenue and it is a job that cannot be undertaken within the time frame
given.
Does that mean there will never
be any grade separation there? Not necessarily.
International Trade Minister
David Emerson told me that the federal government has a larger infrastructure
program and a project like 200 Street might well qualify for improvements
under that program.
Another important issue is
transit. TransLink is improving bus service to and from Langley, with
the 502 which runs along Fraser Highway now running at 15- minute intervals
throughout the day. This is a tremendous improvement and will make taking
the bus an option for more people.
Fraser Highway, however, is
not slated for an overpass, for some of the same technical reasons.
Borges told me that is a key
reason why the project is identifying alternative overpass routes, such
as 196 Street and 54 Avenue, which will allow buses to go around bottlenecks
and keep to a schedule.
As we have seen with the 204
Street overpass, a new transportation route relieves pressure on several
others. All levels of government want the corridor to be smooth and fluid
— for trains, buses, trucks, cars (and even cyclists).
Langley MP Mark Warawa and
the two mayors, along with Falcon and our two MLAs, deserve a lot of the
credit for how quickly this project has advanced. So does the broader
community of Langley.
Organizations like the chamber
of commerce, VALTAC and others have ensured that road-rail conflicts were
top of mind for decision-makers.
The bottom line is this. We
aren’t getting all the overpasses we need quite yet — but
the federal and provincial governments know we need them. It is very important
to keep the pressure up.
Editors
Opinion - July 4
Democracy stifled
By —Frank Bucholtz
Jul 04 2007
One element of Thursday’s announcement about an expedited plan to
build nine overpasses over the rail line to Roberts Bank was disquieting.
In order to get into Langley Township council chambers
and hear a variety of speakers from the federal, provincial and municipal
governments, as well as TransLink, the Vancouver Port Authority and Canadian
Pacific Railway, people needed to be on a list. If they were members of
the media, they had to sign in and receive a pass. Officials of various
agencies involved were given name tags.
Left on the outside and barred from entering the chambers
were ordinary citizens who have taken an interest in this issue for years,
including members of the local transportation advocacy group VALTAC. These
people (including Second World War veteran Bill Marr, 89) were not carrying
signs, nor were they planning to disrupt the announcement in any way.
They wanted to hear what politicians had to say.
Manning the barricades were officials from the federal
government, who organized the event. While their intentions may have been
honourable, they did a grave disservice to the democracy that Marr and
others fought for by trying to keep taxpayers out of a momentous announcement
which will have a significant effect on Langley and other communities.
Among those who were initially barred was Langley school
trustee Sonya Paterson, an elected official who is also current president
of VALTAC.
Thankfully, those who were barred were able to make gestures
from a glassed-in area near the rear of the chambers, where they attracted
the attention of Langley Township Mayor Kurt Alberts. He said “This
is our building,” and gave instructions that they be admitted to
the event.
The federal government, both under the former Liberal
and current Conservative administrations, seems to have a penchant for
keeping politicians at arm’s length from voters — at announcements,
and even during the ordinary interchange of views by letter and e-mail.
This trend is unhealthy and needs to be stopped in its
tracks.
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