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Originally Posted by fever
If you look on Surrey's webmap you'll see that the utilities are generally located on the sides of roads, while the centre is generally free of utilities.
I don't think anyone is talking about light rail running in mixed traffic.
There appears to be enough room on the typical Surrey arterial for a double-tracked light rail ROW and four 11-foot traffic lanes. King George appears to be wider but I didn't measure it. I'd suggest that light rail run down the middle of the street in a segregated ROW with at-grade crossings at half-mile intervals. There might be a good reason to grade-separate some crossings (i.e. major arterials are at two-mile intervals) but this would be overkill for minor arterials.
The brown line on the map is a regional/interurban line. The Translink report on it estimated the cost at $700m. I'd suggest reducing the number of stations from 9 or 16 to the 5 shown which also reduces the number of trains needed. This would save about $200m, which should be used instead to electrify the line and grade-separate the line at all intersections (aside from a few farm roads). The line would be much faster than skytrain, with a typical operating speed of up to 140 km/h instead of 80 km/h and with fewer stations. This regional line would be integrated well with light rail at Newton and on Scott Road at Nordel, and with skytrain at Scott Road.
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I think that using the old interurban existing ROW for some form of rail rapid transit is one of the most under-discussed topics in here. There would be minimal land acquisition required compared to other alternatives. It also connects existing town centres in Langley, Cloverdale, Newton, and where it crosses Scott Road near North Delta, and could easily be aligned to provide a convenient connection right at Scott Rd Skytrain station. I think investing in grade-segregated crossings would improve safety and operating speed, but I think that a few more than the 5 stations indicated would be prudent, as you are missing numerous opportunities for population catchment and integration with new and reworked community shuttles and local bus service.