New West considers trolley or ferry connecting Queensborough with downtown
Posted October 18, 2016 10:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – A new report laying out the cost of a proposed pedestrian and cyclist crossing between Queensborough and Quayside has sent New Westminster city council back to the drawing board.
The report from SNC Lavalin puts the bridge’s construction cost over $39 million, nearly four times higher than the $11 million the city had set aside for it.
But councillor Chuck Puchmayr says there’s still a desire to somehow connect the two communities so Queensborough residents can access the downtown without having to use the Queensborough Bridge.
“We have been in discussion with Southern Rail, looking at the possibility of running a trolley over the train bridge from downtown New Westminster over to Queensborough all the way down to the casino,” he says, “I think that would be quite a significant asset to the city.”
Puchmayr admits however that those talks have not yet produced tangible results.
Another option would be to run a ferry between the two locations, possibly linking Queensborough directly to the River Market. But Puchmayr says even this could prove challenging.
“This is not like running a Granville Island ferry where you would have fairly calm waters,” he explains, “we have the Fraser River, which is tidal… we have the freshet in early summer which sometimes can be quite extreme.”
The report also suggests adding a four-metre wide pathway to the existing rail bridge should it ever be replaced.
Discussions on these options are still ongoing, and no timelines have been announced.
