BC United leader Kevin Falcon promises new North Shore SkyTrain

Concept for Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit between Park Royal in West Vancouver and Metrotown in Burnaby. (McElhanney/Spannovation/District of North Vancouver)

BC United party leader Kevin Falcon announced today sweeping major transportation infrastructure improvements, especially initiatives and projects that benefit the North Shore of Metro Vancouver.

Key to his party’s promises is the construction of a new SkyTrain line reaching the North Shore.

Falcon specifically noted SkyTrain — not TransLink’s current highly vague and undefined planning approach of a potential initial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, with the possibility of some form of rail-based rapid transit at some point in the future over the long term. TransLink is in the process of planning a rapid transit corridor between Park Royal in West Burnaby and Metrotown in Burnaby via the Second Narrows.

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BC United is envisioning a phased North Shore SkyTrain line, with the first phase running between the existing SkyTrain network in Burnaby and TransLink’s existing Phibbs bus exchange near the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in North Vancouver. A longer-term extension would bring the SkyTrain extension westward across the North Shore to reach Lonsdale and Park Royal.

The new North Shore SkyTrain by BC United would be tied with the project of building a new multi-modal Second Narrows Bridge to provide relief to the aging and constrained 1957-built Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. This new Highway 1 bridge would have 10 vehicle lanes including HOV lanes — up from the existing bridge’s six vehicle lanes — and space for the SkyTrain tracks, and walking and cycling pathways.

The new bridge would be built in phases to ensure the existing bridge can still be used. A feasibility study would be conducted to consider retaining the existing bridge for only commercial and heavy truck vehicle traffic after the new bridge is built.

north shore burrard inlet rapid transit skytrain map

SkyTrain concept for the Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit Line. (McElhanney/District of North Vancouver)

Other strategies in Falcon’s campaign platform would focus on measures to further improve roads and public transit infrastructure to reduce congestion and enhance safety and connectivity.

This includes additional vehicle lanes at the south end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver to ensure smoother traffic flow, additional vehicle lanes at the Mountain Highway interchange, upgraded interchanges along Upper Levels Highway (Lynn Valley, Capilano, and Cypress Bowl roads), widening the Upper Levels Highway to six vehicle lanes as recommended by a recent provincial government study, enhancing the accessibility and connectivity of the SeaBus ferry terminals, and improving the Lions Gate Bridge’s counter-flow traffic signal system to improve the route’s efficiency.

“The North Shore is a world-class community and North Shore residents deserve a world-class transportation system to match. Under David Eby’s NDP, we’ve seen countless studies without any action and the few projects they do launch are way behind schedule and wildly over budget,” said Falcon in a statement today.

“Our plan will fix transportation for the North Shore and we’ll get it done on-budget and on-time. BC United, under the former BC Liberals, successfully delivered countless major transportation projects — like the Canada Line, the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the William R. Bennett Bridge — and we will do it again, that’s a promise.”

This forms a major part of the party’s campaign promise ahead of the October 2024 provincial election.

September 2020 map of North Shore SkyTrain route options. (Government of BC)

ironworkers memorial bridge replacement concept

Side-by-side twin cable-stayed bridges concept to replace the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, including space for SkyTrain/LRT. (McElhanney/District of North Vancouver)

The BC NDP provincial government previously performed a preliminary study identifying potential North Shore SkyTrain routes, with the study’s findings released in 2020.

A 2023 preliminary technical study commissioned by the District of North Vancouver found that a complete North Shore SkyTrain line between Park Royal and SkyTrain Metrotown Station via the Second Narrows with key connections at Lonsdale SeaBus ferry terminal, SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station, and the BCIT Burnaby campus would attract 120,000 boardings per day by 2050 — exceeding street-level light rail transit (LRT) and especially BRT.

As part of the SkyTrain crossing needs, the District of North Vancouver’s study also envisioned building new twin multi-modal bridges to replace the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

Coinciding with Falcon’s announcement this morning, TransLink staff revealed to TransLink’s Mayors Council that the public transit authority’s $600 million annual operating budget shortfall starting in 2026 would necessitate massive service level cuts to bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus, West Coast Express, and HandyDART services to balance the budget.

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