The city of Coquitlam is asking Port Coquitlam city hall to pay for half of a $30,000 study to look at linking up its roads with PoCo's Fremont connector.
On Monday, PoCo city council was applauded and thanked by Sun Valley neighbourhood residents after it unanimously voted to run the north part of the connector up Devon Road.
But rather than picking one of the three options recommended by city staff, council chose to go with what its smart growth committee had suggested: dead-ending the route at Lincoln Avenue in Coquitlam.
The committee vice-chair, Coun. Brad West, called it a "logical choice," saying there was no point in curving the alignment west and back to the Sun Valley neighbourhood as it has been trying to avoid potential traffic impact for those property owners.
Instead, he said, Coquitlam must now figure out how to join up with the arterial route, which is expected to carry thousands of commuters due to live in the new Partington Creek neighbourhood of Burke Mountain located to the north.
"I've said all along that we will choose the road alignment that best meets our needs for our residents and we hope that the city of Coquitlam will want to work with us on this," Mayor Greg Moore said at Monday's council meeting. "We definitely want to work with them but it's a two-way street."
Still, in a July 21 letter, Jozsef Dioszeghy, Coquitlam's general manager of engineering and public works, wrote to his PoCo counterpart, Kristen Meersman, director of engineering and operations, about his concerns for the dead-ended Devon option. He suggests PoCo back down and follow the connector along a western alignment — the route that's the closest to Fremont Street and the BC Hydro power lines.
"The smart growth committee [fourth] alignment alternative is an entirely new option which would require a study to assess feasibility and related costs," he wrote. "Coquitlam recommends a $30,000 study to assess alignment alternatives for the section between Lincoln Avenue and Victoria Drive as long as Port Coquitlam contributes 50% of the costs."
[email protected]
@jwarrenTC
