The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows area transport plan could be ready in a year, plotting out future bus service for the next decade and a way to get rapid transit along Lougheed Highway.
TransLink officials were back at Maple Ridge council Tuesday, explaining the basics of the new plan.
“This plan is going to focus on what could be implemented in the next 1o years. There’s interest and ambition for rapid transit coming out to Maple Ridge, along the Lougheed corridor, more than what the B-Line will provide,” said Sarah Ross, with TransLink.
The agency’s currently doing a Lougheed Highway corridor study that will plot out land use and routes for such a system, if SkyTrain extension here is ever approved.
In the meantime, the more immediate priority is getting the B-Line bus service running between Coquitlam Central SkyTrain station and downtown Maple Ridge operating by the end of the year.
TransLink soon will be going out to tender for bids to build the bus stops and road improvements for that route that will carry commuters from the downtown to Coquitlam in 40 minutes, at least every 15 minutes.
“We’re working hard on the B-Line,” said Ross. It’s going to be a pretty significant increase in transit service coming out to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, running every 10 minutes at the peak, limited stop service … all day, every day, seven days week.”
The public has already chipped in with their ideas in 2018 for the area transport plan, giving TransLink rough ideas about what should be contained in a new plan.
TransLink has now taken that input, created some rough concepts and will present that to council and to the public during a three-week consultation period in April. Following that, a draft plan will be created.
pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
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