Surrey light rail price tag hits $1.65 billion

The front page of this weeks Surrey Now Leader reads: Surrey light rail price tag hits $1.65 billion. The article states that "It will cost TransLink a total of $1.65 billion to roll out out the first phase of Surrey light rail by 2024, according to the agency’s executives. TransLink unveiled the updated cost Monday as part of the $7.3 billion price tag for phase two of the Mayors’ Glutton's Council overall 10-year-vision. CEO Kevin Desmond said that costs for the Surrey-Newton-Guildford line have gone up by 33 per cent ($410 million) since 2015."

The only reason we are finding out about these extra costs is because Kevin Desmond is honest while Linda Hepner is not. Linda Hepner said LRT was cheaper than Skytrian. That was a Bold Faced Lie. Skytrain already has all the trains purchased and the land to store the cars over night. All they have to do is extend the existing track a few miles down King George highway.

Running an on ground train through busy intersections is not progress. Edmonton LRT is not a good model. We should learn from their mistakes. People who drive cars prefer Skytrain because Skytrain doesn't impede traffic. Getting off Skytrain to board a LRT the last few stops is stupid.

Linda Hepner is a liar just like her predecessor Dianne Watts who was the driving force behind this SNC-Lavalin tax fraud. When Dianne Watts was in office she lied about everything from supporting the mega casino on rural land in her own riding to running a red light after a drunken gala in Surrey. When the media reprints false statement from the politicians or the police, they abandon credible journalism and become cheap tabloids of corporate propaganda.

These soaring prices are just for phase one extending LRT to Newton. They don't even include the Nightmare on Elm street running LRT down 104th to Guildford. Running LRT down King George to Newton is stupid but is not nearly as bad as running it along 104th to Guildford reverting 104th to a single lane of traffic in either direction. That is not progress. It is spending an obscene amount of tax dollars on a project we don't want or need that will make traffic congestion far worse instead of improving it. The bus ride from Surrey Place to Guildford is fine. The bus ride from Surrey Place to Newton is not. Extend the Skytrain to Newton and leave 104th alone!