Photo by Dan Toulgoet
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan have announced over $3 billion in funding for the Broadway Subway and Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT projects.
Construction on the Broadway Subway will begin in 2020 and is expected to be completed by 2025.
The Broadway Subway project extends the Millennium Line SkyTrain along Broadway Corridor from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Street.
“As one of the largest infrastructure investments in B.C.’s history, the Broadway Subway will provide a huge boost to Metro Vancouver’s economy and liveability,” says Mayor Gregor Robertson in a news release. “This enormous investment in Metro Vancouver’s transportation network has been a long time coming and will significantly reduce traffic congestion, cut commute times along the Broadway Corridor by half and further enhance our city’s economic competitiveness.”
Robertson says the project will create 7,190 jobs and an estimated 5,120 indirect jobs. On opening day, the Broadway Subway will be able to carry over three times the capacity of the 99 B-Line bus service.
Getting from VCC-Clark to Arbutus on the new Broadway Subway will take 10 minutes or 46 minutes from Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station to Arbutus, according to a release from the city.
“Bringing light rail to Surrey will transform the city, connect communities and make getting around the Lower Mainland faster and easier. The Broadway Subway will also go a long way in reducing commute times and transit overcrowding, and making Vancouver’s SkyTrain even more convenient and accessible," says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Surrey-Newton-Guildford Light Rail Transit project (LRT) will create the first light-rail transit system in B.C. with 11 new stations along 10.5 km of street-level track.
