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  #1  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 7:38 AM
TheEmotionalstone TheEmotionalstone is offline
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What If There Was an Airport on Barnston Island?

I have been reading a lot of articles about how Surrey is placed between two large airports (YVR and YXX) and I wondered what would happen to the growth of the Lower Mainland, and in particular the growth of the South of Fraser region and Surrey, if that were to happen. This is a hypothetical idea and would not be executed in the 'real world' (especially since the Katzie First Nations have a small reserve there), but it's a neat idea to think about. If you have an idea, please post a comment and help get this discussion going!

Last edited by TheEmotionalstone; Dec 1, 2011 at 7:51 AM.
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  #2  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 9:54 AM
BCPhil BCPhil is offline
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I think the Golden Ears Bridge would be too tall for an airport to be right there. The towers on the bridge would be right in the glide path.

Besides, Pitt Meadows airport is like 10 feet away on the other side of the river (just out of the shadow of the bridge).
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 5:07 PM
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Besides, Pitt Meadows airport is like 10 feet away on the other side of the river (just out of the shadow of the bridge).
This.
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 5:30 PM
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I learned to fly at Pitt Meadows airport and the circuit patterns for runways 26 Left and 36 overlie Barnston Island. You might be able to squeeze in a small grass-field airport on the south extreme of the island - I'm thinking along the lines of Delta Air Park, which is just east of Boundary Bay airport. But anything larger would be out of the question. And even that seems doubtful since it would be right underneath the approach path to Pitt Meadow's runway 36.
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 5:36 PM
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I have actually never thought about this... but I think a better option would be somewhere in South Newton, preferably with a rapid transit connection.
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 6:20 PM
TheEmotionalstone TheEmotionalstone is offline
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Since this is all hypothetical...

what if the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport wasn't there? And what if the planes arrived and/or departed in a North Easterly direction so as not to hit the bridge?
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 6:45 PM
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Originally Posted by nickinacan View Post
I have actually never thought about this... but I think a better option would be somewhere in South Newton, preferably with a rapid transit connection.
An even better idea would be a high speed rail connection down Highway 1 to Abbotsford Airport.
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 6:58 PM
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Originally Posted by TheEmotionalstone View Post
what if the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport wasn't there? And what if the planes arrived and/or departed in a North Easterly direction so as not to hit the bridge?
Why would you ever choose to build an airport on a small island, if there were other flat places not on islands to build one? Just expropriate some ALR land and build the airport on the Surrey/Langley bank of the river, if that is what you want.

(Before you say "but YVR is on an island", YVR only kinda has this issue, since it is situated in minor channels of the river, not in the main channel.)
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 8:31 PM
tybuilding tybuilding is offline
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An even better idea would be a high speed rail connection down Highway 1 to Abbotsford Airport.
You got my vote. I don't see the need for an additional airport. I would love to see rapid transit connection between Abbotsford & Vancouver/Surrey
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  #10  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2011, 9:23 PM
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You got my vote. I don't see the need for an additional airport. I would love to see rapid transit connection between Abbotsford & Vancouver/Surrey
I second that! Isn't that what the South Fraser wants anyways?
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  #11  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2011, 5:58 AM
TheEmotionalstone TheEmotionalstone is offline
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Good ideas! My hypothetical proposal has been put to shame in less than 10 posts!

...okay! so, should I just change the name of this thread to "Brainstorm - South Of Fraser"? Already you have put forth some great ideas and maybe it would be fun to have a thread just for random transportation and infrastructure ideas. How about it?
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  #12  
Old Posted Dec 2, 2011, 4:05 PM
trofirhen trofirhen is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheEmotionalstone View Post
...okay! so, should I just change the name of this thread to "Brainstorm - South Of Fraser"? Already you have put forth some great ideas and maybe it would be fun to have a thread just for random transportation and infrastructure ideas. How about it?
Try the Transit Fantasies page, for starters.
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  #13  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2011, 5:01 AM
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isn't langley airport close enough?
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  #14  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2011, 5:30 AM
cornholio cornholio is offline
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There is no need for another airport in the region, YVR has the critical mass to be a major airport but it can still use more traffic to become a more important hub and attract more flights and options for the residents. Meanwhile Abotsford is still underused and needs lots more customers to become a really useful airport. I would think our region would need to double in population and YVR would need to become a true hub airport and atleast double their volume before another commercial airport in the region could be considered, and I would think at that point it would be better closer to Vancouver to allow some low cost flights to operate that cant afford the prices at a busy YVR. Maybe something at Boundary bay airport could be pretty good next to the highway, ferry terminal and around ALR land where its easy to drive to and become a cheaper alternative for select flights from YVR.
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  #15  
Old Posted Dec 3, 2011, 12:33 PM
go_leafs_go02 go_leafs_go02 is offline
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Abbotsford has more than enough room to grow into Metro Vancouver's secondary airport if the need exists. From Surrey/Langley it's about equal distance to Abbotsford as to YVR, and Abbotsford is likely an easier drive without being in traffic (unless it's a summer weekend)

No need for more airports. YVR functions fine right now, and YXX has the room to grow. Just need some good transit connections into Chilliwack and Abbotsford.
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  #16  
Old Posted Dec 6, 2011, 10:32 PM
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YXX's expansion plans look pretty fantastic by the way. They were posted on here quite a while ago (probably 1+ year). Brand new Terminal, parking lot, rental car area, and a whole bunch more aerospace industrial stuff. Also included better integration with local roads and more direct access to the highway and downtown Abbotsford. Unfortunately it is a slow moving process. It would be great to see YXX be able to compete more with BLI on discount and shorter flights.

Personally I'd love to see the old Terminal area handed over to the RCAF for an airlift/logistics base, but I doubt that would ever happen.
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  #17  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2011, 7:16 PM
go_leafs_go02 go_leafs_go02 is offline
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The only thing about Abbotsford is if you come from Highway 1 and exit at Mt. Lehman or Clearbrook, based on the road you are driving down, you feel like you just might have taken the wrong turn.

Take a look:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=YXX&hl=...137.74,,0,4.64
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  #18  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2011, 10:16 PM
GMasterAres GMasterAres is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by racc View Post
An even better idea would be a high speed rail connection down Highway 1 to Abbotsford Airport.
This would be the best option. By transit right now it takes upwards of 1 hour to get to YVR from Surrey currently. Driving it takes about 30-45 minutes.

It takes about the same time to drive to Abbotsford Airport from Surrey and with high-speed rail you could reduce transit down from 1 hour to something more around 45 minutes or so which is reasonable. Not Canada Line to Vancouver times (25 minutes) but not bad.
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  #19  
Old Posted Dec 8, 2011, 1:24 AM
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is abbotsford still trying to get some england flights? i heard they were trying or hoping to get at least some charters that serve the UK
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