While there's still no definitive date, the long-awaited Evergreen Line through Port Moody and Coquitlam "will open sometime before Christmas."
That was the pledge Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Linda Reimer made today (Thursday) at a press conference Coquitlam city hall, where the province also announced it would finance a park-and-ride lot across the street.
"We see a light at the end of the tunnel," joked Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart at the press conference, a gathering that included mostly government employees, city councillors and business advocates. "Thank you for that Christmas present."
The news of the earlier-than-anticipated — but still late, considering the initial planned completion date of 2014 — opening was especially welcomed by representatives of Douglas College, which has a campus near the Lafarge Lake-Douglas station, and of Evergreen Cultural Centre, an arts hub at the terminus of the Evergreen Line.
Hazel Postma, Douglas' vice-president of external relations, told The Tri-City News the late fall opening of the $1.43-billion rapid transit alignment will allow Douglas students to ride the rails before the winter semester starts.
"Unfortunately, our students have to drive to get between our two campuses now," she said, referring to the New Westminster site, "so we are very pleased we will be able to get on board sooner."
Jon-Paul Walden, executive director of the Evergreen Cultural Centre, also said the announcement "is a huge relief. At least we have an idea now of when this will open and we can plan ahead to get our patrons in from all over the region."
Neither Postma nor Walden said they're worried commuters accessing the Lafarge Lake-Douglas station will use their facilities' parking lots.
It was also announced today that commuters will soon be able to park their vehicles in a new $5-million park-and-ride lot. The 110-stall parking lot will be located under the Evergreen Line guideway, on city land, directly east of city hall on Pinetree Way; another 40 spots dedicated for Evergreen riders will be available on the surrounding streets, she said.
The topic of where Evergreen Line commuters would park in City Centre was a hot-button issue during this year's provincial byelection in the riding of Coquitlam-Burke Mountain (Premier Christy Clark told The Tri-City News then that commuters would be accommodated and the bus network would be integrated, although that network is controlled by TransLink, not the province).
Stewart said the new park-and-ride, which will be built by the city, won't affect nearby homeowners along Glen Drive and Westwood Street. That land is zoned in the official community plan (OCP) for highrise towers, he said.
TransLink board chair Don Rose, who drove to the news conference in a silver BMW, said the 11-km Evergreen Line will be a boon for Metro Vancouver, providing more public transit options "and fewer people in cars."
Rose also thanked Tri-City residents for putting up with the construction of the Evergreen Line and invited them on board.
The fully automated line is expected to carry 70,000 passengers a day by 2021. It will be the newest rapid-transit line to open since the Canada Line began operations in 2009, in time for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
The Evergreen Line is being built by the province, which will turn it over to TransLink to operate. It went ahead after years of haggling between the province and Metro Vancouver mayors, who finally agreed in 2011 to raise the Metro Vancouver gas tax two cents a litre to finance TransLink's $400-million share of the cost.
According to a government press release, the Evergreen Line is now more than 90% complete and will have 650 new parking stalls around the Lafarge Lake-Douglas, Moody Centre and Coquitlam Central stations.
Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay, who was not at Thursday's news conference, told The Tri-City News afterward his city's staff are now ramping up parking strategies and other transportation plans for what he expects will be a mid- to late-November opening of the Evergreen Line.
Port Moody civic managers will also be in touch with TransLink to talk about changes to bus routes as a result of the pre-Christmas opening, he said.
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--with files from Jeff Nagel of Black Press
