Quote:
Originally Posted by Zassk
This seems to be conclusive evidence that Newton should get the next Expo Line extension. It's the largest town centre by population and has the fastest growth (faster than Cloverdale, apparently), and as a bonus, it is the cheapest town centre to expand to.
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Explain why that automatically is the best course.
You might see it as the largest, but it is still just 1 out of 6 Surrey "boroughs". What about everyone else?
Extending to Newton sure does help the biggest part of surrey, but completely ignores the others (well, it does marginally help South Surrey). It's spending money to help Newton, at the expense of the rest of the city.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Newton is HUGE! Newton isn't just the area around King George and 72nd. It stretches from Scott Road to 152 St at it's widest, and around 90 Ave to Highway 10 at it's tallest. It's about triple the land area as Fleetwood.
A line straight down King George isn't going to benefit most of the population on the West Side along Scott Road, and the further north you go the more pointless it gets. From most points it would take just as long to get to King George Blvd as it does to get to Scott Road Station today on a bus. And I'm talking from experience. I live in "Newton" and from my place by bus, it would be faster to go to Scott Road Station than any point on King George Blvd.
The population base on the East side of Newton might also find the line useless. Between 88 and 72nd, there is no road access from East Newton to King George Blvd, meaning, by bus, for most people the closest, fastest and easiest station to get to will STILL BE KING GEORGE STATION!!!!!!!!!
And that doesn't mention the fact that transit has improved ZERO PERCENT for residents of Guildford, Fleetwood, and Cloverdale (and Langley and beyond). They are completely left out of any improvement. That's 177,020 people (in Surrey alone) today which is more than the entire population of Newton, which, many of whom won't even benefit substantially from Skytrain on King George.
If the line were to go straight down Fraser Highway, even only as far as 168 St, then it brings it substantially closer to residents in South East Guildford, ALL OF FLEETWOOD, and most of Eastern Newton. That is a much larger population that is directly affected by Skytrain expansion. Not to mention the bus travel times from Cloverdale and Langley are basically cut in half (and that is only if the Skytrain goes as far as 168 St) and the line bisects almost every bus route in Eastern Surrey, facilitating easy grid like travel. That is a much larger impact for a line that is about the same length.
Then further future expansion has more impact too. From Newton the only reasonable place to go is South Surrey. Again, this ignores and does nothing for everyone in Guildford, Fleetwood, Cloverdale, and Langley, and only serves a smaller percentage of SOF residents than other corridors.
From Fleetwood, expansion can proceed into Langley. The bisects almost the entire population SOF. Almost everyone SOF becomes a whole lot closer to Rapid Transit. There is fast growing density in Clayton and Cloverdale, which would be just a few minute bus ride from Fraser Highway. Not to mention the Willowbrook area which has some lofty density plans in the works. And have you not been into Langley city? It's almost entirely apartments, condos and townhomes. Terminating in Langley also brings residents further out in the Valley that much closer to Skytrain. Aldergrove would be only a short rapid bus ride away, and there is a lot of growth potential in the area.
While sending Skytrain down King George to Newton might really benefit some people, going down Fraser highway will benefit a much larger number of people, shorten ( and simplify and cheapen) many bus routes, and leave Skytrain open to further, more impactful expansion in the future. And politically, it will involve more communities and residents of the Valley, making it an easier line to get through the Translink board and/or provincial assembly.