Vancouver Sun Article
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver SunDecember 30, 2011
Walking around Surrey is no easy feat.
But city officials hope to make it a bit better with a plan that aims to connect
its communities with biking and walking trails and greenway "loops" throughout
the city's six town centres — Cloverdale, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton,
Whalley/City Centre and Semiahmoo.
The aim? To get residents out of their cars and walking or biking to work, the
shopping districts and the city's parks.
Surrey parks manager Owen Croy said the city already has about 75 kilometres of
four-metre-wide greenway trails. But while a 2008 public survey found about 70
per cent of people used the trails for recreation that year, they aren't used
for daily trips around the community.
One of the biggest complaints by residents, according to a draft greenways
report that will go to Surrey city council in January, is that there are no
greenways "where I want to go."
"Although walking and cycling are fundamental modes of transportation, these
activities are often overlooked in favour of taking the car," according to the
draft report. "Even in Surrey's more active neighbourhoods, those with
traditional grid-road networks and homes in close proximity to shops, only eight
per cent of people walk to work and even fewer, only 6.5 per cent, cycle to
work."
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City of Surrey Greenways Plan