Coquitlam's massive growth spurt has forced the city to rethink its plans for future transportation needs.
Under its new Strategic Transportation Plan (STP), a 20-year visioning document adopted this week by city council, Coquitlam will push to get more drivers off the road and to take a "greener" commute instead.
Currently, automobiles account for more than 80% of all trips made by the residents of Coquitlam, one of B.C.'s fastest-growing communities that's expected to have 100,000 more people in another 30 years.
The STP calls for more drivers to consider alternative options - like walking, cycling and taking public transit - with the goal of getting another 10% of all trips made by foot, bike, bus or the upcoming Evergreen Line.
"The plan seeks to shift the mode by which residents move," Bill Susak, Coquitlam's general manager of engineering and public works, told city council on Monday.
Among the highlights in the STP are to:
increase the number of walking trips from 8% to 12% by building more sidewalks, enhancing the quality of facilities for pedestrians, and developing a greenway network;
triple the number of cycling trips, from 1% to 3%, by expanding the bike network and providing better cycling facilities;
and work with TransLink, the region's transportation authority, by hiking public transit use from 9% to 15%, of which the Evergreen Line is expected to play a major role by linking Lougheed Town Centre with Coquitlam City Centre by rapid transit.
As well, the STP aims to upgrade and build streets - especially on Burke Mountain, where 20,000 more people are expected to call home by 2021, and in southwest Coquitlam, where major road works are planned around Brunette and the old Fraser Mills site - to improve connections with Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, and to support external links like the United Boulevard Extension to New Westminster and the Murray-Clarke Connector in Port Moody.
Catherine Mohaniuk, Coquitlam's manager of transportation planning, told council on Monday that if all the targets are met, the capital improvements would cost up to $240 million over 20 years. It is expected city staff will review the document every two to four years to ensure the targets are met and see if changes need to be made, she said.
The STP comes after two years of open houses, workshops and consultation with groups like the Urban Development Institute, the city's universal access ability advisory committee, environmental stewards and the Tri-City branch of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition; it replaces the 2001 STP.
Mohaniuk said the city wants to get people out of their cars primarily to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), of which the municipality itself has been recognized as an industry leader; cutting GHGs is also a goal of TransLink.
However, Coun. Terry O'Neill argued pedestrian/cycling improvements aren't a priority for Coquitlam residents.
O'Neill pointed to last year's Ipsos Reid poll, which indicated public transportation links being the top concern followed by road gridlock and construction. He warned council that if the transportation emphasis is misplaced, "then we are going to have unintended consequences" such as adding more street congestion. "People want road improvements," he said, adding the new STP "doesn't reflect what the people of Coquitlam want."
Now adopted, the STP policies will be incorporated into the city's Official Community Plan and other master plans.
