Tree removal on 100 Avenue in Green Timbers a dose of LRT reality
- Media Release
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- For immediate release — March 15, 2017
SkyTrain for Surrey is calling attention to the recently reported tree removal along 100 Avenue in Green Timbers, a clear and troubling preview of the real impacts of the City of Surrey’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) plan. The widening of 100 Avenue—now underway and already removing mature trees—is not an isolated project, but a direct consequence of the City’s decision to pursue LRT on 104 Avenue.
104 Avenue LRT plan redirects traffic into the forest
City officials have repeatedly stated that 100 Avenue must be widened to compensate for the loss of traffic lanes on 104 Avenue under the Surrey‑Newton‑Guildford LRT project, as well as the full closure of 104 Avenue required during LRT construction. This is a direct admission that the plan is to direct additional traffic into the Green Timbers Urban Forest that isn’t currently there today.
By reducing and restricting traffic capacity on 104 Avenue, the LRT plan deliberately diverts additional vehicles, congestion, and exhaust emissions into the Green Timbers Urban Forest.
The City continues to advance this plan despite a business‑case analysis showing negative benefit‑cost outcomes and minimal travel‑time improvements compared with existing B‑Line service or Bus Rapid Transit alternatives.
Fraser Highway widening impacts to Green Timbers could be even worse
The widening of 100 Avenue is only the beginning, because the same pattern appears on Fraser Highway, and once again it is being done to accommodate a surface LRT. This time, the future LRT line proposed for Fraser Highway would require significant clear‑cutting to widen the corridor for at‑grade tracks, with the city’s proposed right-of-way spanning 40 metres wide.
By comparison, an elevated SkyTrain extension—also evaluated in the Surrey Rapid Transit Study—would fit within a much narrower ~27‑metre right‑of‑way. Elevated guideways allow roadway space to remain underneath, dramatically reducing forest impacts:
Currently proposed LRT right-of-way through Green Timbers: 40 metres
The Surrey Rapid Transit Study assumed a much narrower ~27 metre right-of-way for SkyTrain on Fraser:
Furthermore, SkyTrain is the only option capable of attracting enough ridership to meaningfully reduce traffic volumes through Green Timbers. Faster, more reliable service generates higher mode shift, stronger transportation benefits, and avoids the costly, environmentally damaging road expansions required by LRT.
More than 1,900 residents have already signed the petition opposing the Surrey LRT vision.
Pictured in header: Trees downed at 100 Avenue for the road widening project
SkyTrain for Surrey is a BC-based community organization that has advocated for the expansion of the Vancouver SkyTrain system, including our successful advocacy for the under-construction Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension.
Media Contact: Daryl Dela Cruz – Founder, SkyTrain for Surrey ・ Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected]
