My family moved to the North Shore from East Vancouver last summer.
The appeal of getting away from the constant craze of Vancouver and being closer to the serenity of mountains and forest are ultimately what brought us here. As it turns out, North Vancouver is the only Lower Mainland community ranked within the top ten places to live in Canada by MoneySense Magazine this January.
My wife grew up here and so the rapid development of the area along with increasing traffic congestion in recent years are especially salient to her.
Traffic congestion, she believes, is beginning to corrode the high quality of life familiar to North Shore residents.
I’m a veterinarian in my day job and an occasional writer by night. Although I have no training as an urban planner I am an ardent environmentalist and I support smart density type development such as that focused around major transit hubs. And while highrise and high density developments continue to pop up across the North Shore, Lonsdale Quay remains the only major public transit hub.
British Columbia’s proposed transit tax (which flopped miserably under a poorly conceived referendum) had some bold suggestions to improve mass transit. Surely, mass transit — giving people a viable alternative to commuting by personal vehicle — can provide a solution to our traffic dilemma.
However, the addition of a few B-line bus routes won’t suffice; we need a commuter train on the North Shore.
Envision the “North Shore Express” or the “NSE” — a commuter train beginning in Horseshoe Bay, running through the North Shore and ending in Vancouver.
Fortunately, the North Shore already has much of the infrastructure and right of ways in place. An operating railway currently runs past Horseshoe Bay (and only steps from the ferry terminal) all the way east to just past the Iron Worker’s Memorial Bridge.
Now close your eyes and join for a ride along the NSE … Thousands of daily B.C. ferry passengers now opt to travel as “walk- ons,” getting to and from Horseshoe Bay aboard the NSE. Passengers sit back and gaze out the windows during a glorious train ride running partly along the waterfront and part through the forested neighbourhoods of West Vancouver.
The line has just three brief stops on the North Shore, each at busy centres where droves of people get on and off the train in efficiency unmatched by other forms of transport. Twelve minutes along, the NSE announces to its passengers the Park Royal stop, the first stop along the line from Horseshoe Bay.
The train continues eastward for another six minutes passing under the Lion’s Gate Bridge, zipping by ship building yards and then the rail goes underground to arrive at Lonsdale Quay (under which the existing railway already bypasses via a tunnel).
Downtown destined passengers get off at the Quay to board the SeaBus. Again the NSE continues eastward, emerging from the tunnel to pass by grain silos and piles of coal, stopping this time four minutes later across from Park & Tilford mall.
Next, the NSE passes under the Ironworkers’ Bridge, turns south to take the train bridge (which already exists) across the second narrows, and continues southward for four kilometres on a newly constructed track suspended above the highway until the final stop intersecting with the (current) Millennium SkyTrain line. In about one half hour the NSE has covered its entire route, moving commuters from Horseshoe Bay through the North Shore and into Vancouver with SkyTrain connections to the rest of Metro Vancouver.
Perhaps I should stick to my day job, saving the world one cat neuter at a time. Yet, a commuter train might well be the ultimate solution to resolving our traffic congestion issues. Although traffic threatens our quality of life, the North Shore still remains one of the most naturally beautiful and best places to live in Canada.
At the very least, let this be a vision or perhaps a call to action towards developing a truly sustainable solution to our growing traffic pains and resultant traffic issues on the North Shore.
