Not much transit news about with the school strike and the lead up to the November civic elections, but old news is still news.
The CPR want $100 million for the land and the City of Vancouver wants to pay only $20 million, yet $100 million is a bargain if one wants the land for a transit corridor, considering the cost per km. for a subway starts at about $200 million.
Metro Vancouver (GVRD) should by the land and put an end to this nonsense once and for all and use it for a tram service.
Memo to the CPR: Why not run a DMU service from New West Minster to Vainer Park on the line. a 30 minute service with a pair of GTW’s or alike would be feasible without doubling the track and you may even get a subsidy from metro Vancouver and/or TransLink.
Memo to gardeners using the Arbutus: If the city or metro Vancouver pay for the Arbutus, kiss goodbye any thought of using he land for truck gardens. You best have a plan B and use it.
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Arbutus Corridor talks break down, CP to resume clearing work on rail line
By Jeff Lee, Vancouver SunSeptember 12, 2014 3:32 PM
Resident Sarah Myambo watches as workers remove her community garden from a stretch of abandoned CP Rail line in Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday August 14, 2014. The once-abandoned 11-kilometre-long Arbutus Corridor has been used by residents for many years as a greenway where community gardens were erected. The removal of the gardens is the culmination of a growing dispute between the rail company and the City of Vancouver over the value of the land.
Photograph by: Darryl Dyck, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — Negotiations between the City of Vancouver and Canadian Pacific over the future of the Arbutus Corridor have broken down, the railway said Friday.
As a result, CP will resume work to return the 11-kilometre line to operating standards.
In a statement CP said it had met with the city earlier Friday to discuss the future of the line and to explore “a number of options to reach a fair market settlement” but was unable to get the city to move significantly on its offer.
It had agreed earlier to suspend line-clearing work, including the removal of gardens encroaching on its right-of-way.
“Despite exploring a number of options to reach a fair market settlement, the parties were unable to arrive at an agreement,” CP said in the statement.
“CP remains extremely disappointed that the City of Vancouver continues to significantly undervalue this corridor.”
Mayor Gregor Robertson’s office said he was unhappy with the breakdown in negotiations and still believes the railway is using the threat of returning the line to operating status as a way to pressure the city to pay more.
Vancouver, which won a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that it had the right to control zoning of the line, had offered CP $20 million for it. The city had previously designated the corridor for transportation and greenways, and had resisted CP’s attempts to have it rezoned for residential and commercial development.
CP has never indicated what it wants for the land but in press releases the mayor has suggested it is upwards of $100 million.
