Surrey’s Fleetwood neighbourhood braces for sweeping changes with SkyTrain extension – BC | 24CA News
Residents of Surrey’s Fleetwood neighbourhood are looking forward to future SkyTrain development with a combination of optimism and apprehension.
Preliminary work is underway on the long run Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line which is able to join the present King George Station terminus with Langley City through 16 kilometres of monitor alongside the Fraser Highway.
The $4-billion venture guarantees to deliver a wave of improvement alongside the road, with Fleetwood as no exception.
“We expect there to be 8,000 to 10,000 residents, probably a couple of hundred styles of business, more retail shopping, because we don’t have a lot of non-essential retail,” Fleetwood Business Improvement Association govt director Dean Barber instructed Global News.
“It’s going to change, and we’re hoping to create these neighbourhoods where people can come visit, shop, learn, play, live and spend time.”
Barbour mentioned proposals are within the works for 20 to 30 towers in proximity to Fleetwood’s three deliberate stations.
While he’s optimistic about how that improvement may invigorate the realm, Barbour mentioned there are additionally main considerations about whether or not sufficient work is being performed to organize for an estimated 30,000 new residents anticipated within the coming decade.
“For me the biggest concern is more to do with the challenges of construction, the challenges of congestion. Our sidewalks are not very good in most of the area here,” he mentioned.
“Schools are going to be a big issue given they’re pretty much at capacity right now. And there’s no public land in Fleetwood for the government to come in and build, so we’re going to have to think differently.”
Fleetwood resident Doug Mackinnon mentioned he was wanting ahead to accessing SkyTrain to journey, however mentioned he had considerations about its capability to deliver crime into the realm.
He, too, mentioned he fearful concerning the stress improvement may placed on Surrey’s already overcrowded faculties.
“With the thousands and thousands of people that are going to be moving into the area, I don’t know how that’s going to be resolved. It’s definitely an issue that needs to be addressed right away, it needs to be planned for before any development is done,” he mentioned.
“I hope that the ratio to police or whatever safety protocols are put in place to handle the volumes of people that will be residing here,” he added.
The Surrey School District warned final week that with out extra capital funding from the province and a speed-up on college development, it might have to have a look at double stacking portables.
The district is already including as much as 2,200 new college students per yr, a quantity that doesn’t think about new improvement alongside the SkyTrain line.
The province maintains that 12 new tasks or expansions are within the pipeline for town.
Megha Sharma, who owns an immigration consulting business within the space, mentioned she didn’t see a draw back to the brand new practice, including lots of her prospects depend on poor bus service or costly taxis to get to her.
“I think it will be a more developed area,” she mentioned.
“Fraser (Highway) is developing already. We have so many townhouses here, apartments coming. I think the population is increasing and if we introduce SkyTrain it will be very easy for everyone.”
In a press release, the City of Surrey’s Planning and Development division mentioned it was wanting fastidiously on the projected variety of new houses together with college calls for and the realm’s site visitors community.
“The plans are adjusted as needed to make sure that there are sufficient parks, school sites, pedestrian networks and streets to accommodate the projected densities,” town mentioned.
“And, as each development application comes forward over the coming years, the public needs will be taken into account to ensure the neighbourhood evolves in a coordinated way.”
The Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line is projected to start out service by late 2028.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
