The notion of a third SkyTrain station in Port Moody isn’t dead yet.
On Tuesday (Oct. 11), council approved a motion by Mayor Rob Vagramov tasking staff to solicit the private sector to determine the cost of a study into the feasibility of a third station in the city, somewhere between the Barnet Highway and the existing Moody Centre station.
He said he believed such a study could be conducted for as little as $10,000.
“It behooves us in discussing this to at least find what the best deal is out there.”
In April, council rejected a pitch by Vagramov to spend up to $150,000 on a feasibility and engineering study for a third station.
Some councillors said such an expenditure would be futile as a previously-commissioned consultant’s report presented in 2021 estimated the cost of a new station at around $100 million because the existing Evergreen Line tracks would have to be realigned.
Others said it’s too soon to entertain another SkyTrain station until the city’s west end has enough density to support it.
But Vagramov said council’s approval Tuesday of development permits for the second and third phases of the nearby Woodland Park redevelopment means that critical density is fast approaching.
The project, by Vancouver-based Edgar Development, will eventually be home to more than 4,000 residents, as well as commercial spaces, when its five phases are completed in the next 10 to 15 years.
Construction of the first phase, that is comprised of 328 non-market rental units in partnership with BC Housing, is already underway.
Vagramov said the road network won’t be adequate, even with a new access route and intersection at Clarke Street and the Barnet Highway that is to be built as part of the project’s fourth phase.
“It’s concerning to me, taking one road and making it less steep doesn’t really change the traffic dynamic in that part of town for this much density,” he said.
But Coun. Diana Dilworth, who voted against Vagramov’s motion, said city staff already has enough on its plate.
“This isn’t a priority that needs to be addressed right now,” she said.
“It will take staff away from existing priorities.”
