It is back-to-school week in Surrey. More than 80,000 students returned to class on Tuesday, and many of them walked to school along roads with no sidewalk. Imagine Surrey and mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk committed to 50 kilometres of new sidewalks over four years, starting outside Surrey’s schools, and a road safety plan built around the walk to school.
By the City’s own count, Surrey still needs 558 kilometres of sidewalk to meet its own standard: both sides of every major road and at least one side of local streets. That includes 63 kilometres of major roads with no sidewalk at all and 377 kilometres of local roads with none. City Hall builds about seven to 10 kilometres a year, and City staff say that at this pace the job takes nearly 50 years. The mayor’s Sidewalk Action Plan, endorsed in July 2025, adds 7.5 kilometres over two years. Meanwhile, ICBC data shows 19 of the 50 most dangerous intersections for pedestrians in BC are in Surrey. We need to adopt Vision Zero in Surrey.
Said William Li, candidate for Council with Imagine Surrey, “As a father, the safety of my family is my top priority. I worry about how many missing sidewalks there are across the city, especially near schools. That’s what our Imagine Surrey team will build the sidewalks that no other party is talking about.”
Imagine Surrey will build 50 kilometres of new sidewalks over four years, with the first projects on the walk to school. A public Missing Sidewalks Map will let residents pin the gaps on their own streets, and the City will publish every year what got built and what comes next. On the streets around schools, that means raised crosswalks, safer intersections, and traffic calming, crossing guards where they are needed, targeted speed enforcement in school zones, and brighter, lit routes between schools, parks, and transit.
“I spent 32 years going to calls in this city. I know what a street with no sidewalk and a school at the end of it looks like at 8:30 in the morning,” said Mike Starchuk. “Surrey’s kids deserve sidewalks now, not in decades from now. We will build 50 kilometres in four years.”
Imagine Surrey is a civic party running a full slate of candidates in the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Led by mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk – a former firefighter and Chief Fire Prevention Officer, former City Councillor, and former MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – Imagine Surrey is committed to making Surrey the City of Champions by delivering: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, and strong services.
Council candidates are: Yousef Aldabainah, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda, and Kevin Wilkie.
SOURCE: THE LINK PAPER