The Imagine Surrey civic slate is promising to build 50 kilometres of new sidewalks over four years if its council candidates are elected on October 17.
A press release issued September 9 notes that more than 80,000 Surrey students have returned to class and many get there by walking along roads without a sidewalk. Mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk says the work would start outside schools
“Surrey’s kids deserve sidewalks now, not in decades from now. We will build 50 kilometres in four years,” Starchuk said.
On July 13 council voted in favour of a $1,689,448.95 contract for Jack Cewe Construction Ltd. for 1,830 metres of new and improved sidewalks at five locations in North Surrey, including three new crosswalks.
The work is expected to expected to be complete by October, with construction permitted between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Last year, Surrey council endorsed a “sidewalk action plan” aiming to add more than 558 kilometres of sidewalks over the next 50 years.
As it stood, there were 63 kilometres of arterial and collector roads with no sidewalks, 118 kilometres of arterial and collector roads with one sidewalk and 377 kilometres of local roads with none at all.
Council approved the engineering department’s recommendation to endorse a “sidewalk action plan” to prioritize projects. Scott Neuman, Surrey’s general manager of engineering, noted in a corporate report that B.C. cities historically didn’t require sidewalks as development unfolded.
The sidewalk action plan tagged 23 new projects over two years to provide safer pedestrian access to 23 schools, 55 bus stops and 23 parks.
City hall tackles about seven to 10 kilometres of sidewalks per year and city staff estimate it’d cost $400 to $500 million, and nearly 50 years, to deliver the desired 558 kilometres.
Imagine Surrey council candidate William Li, said he worries about “how many missing sidewalks there are across the city, especially near schools.”