More parking is on the way for Coquitlam’s City Centre neighbourhood ahead of the 2017 opening of the Evergreen Line.
The city is working with the province to develop 150 long-stay pay stalls near the future Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station — located in front of the Evergreen Cultural Centre at the corner of Pinetree and Guildford ways — allowing commuters to park before switching to rapid transit.
“As the city is the primary landowner in the area of this station, the province has asked the city to consider accommodating park and ride on its lands,” said a staff report that council unanimously approved Monday night. “The opening of the Evergreen Line… will bring new demand for parking along this transit corridor.”
Staff said the 150 stalls could be made available through a combination of building a new lot, which would add approximately 100 stalls, and enabling more on-street pay parking to be used for commuter parking, adding another 50 stalls.
While the location for the new parking spaces has yet to be chosen, the city’s engineering department put forward several options in its report.
A parcel of land between Pinetree Way, Guildford Way, Westwood Street and Glen Drive has been identified as a possible off-street park-and-ride location while staff is also looking at repurposing an existing parking lot located in the northwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and Westwood Street.
Potential on-street park and ride stalls have been identified along Pinetree Way at Town Centre Park and along Town Centre Boulevard (which loops from Pinetree to Guildford, between City Centre Aquatic Complex and Douglas College). More on-street stalls are also being considered along Westwood Street near Glen Park and between Guildford Way and Glen Drive.
Prior to the beginning of Evergreen construction, the province committed to building 500 new park-and-ride stalls, with 100 going to Port Moody and 400 being included in the expansion of the Coquitlam Station transit exchange.
But public consultations have found more parking may be needed at the end of the line at the Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station, according to the staff report. The city will now begin consulting with the province and the public regarding the construction of the new stalls.
PARKING MEETING THURSDAY
Coquitlam’s engineering and public works department is holding an open house tomorrow (Thursday) at Coquitlam city hall between 4 and 8 p.m.
The purpose of the meeting is to present the new park-and-ride plan and discuss the city’s overall City Centre parking management strategy with the public.
For more information, click here.
@gmckennaTC
