Here’s another update on TransLink’s proposed supplemental plans for 2011, which focus on funding for the Evergreen Line, the North Fraser Perimeter Road, and several other key projects in our region.

This update is really an announcement from the Province of B.C. and Metro Vancouver’s mayors, but TransLink is clearly affected, so I thought it was important to share here!

What’s new now?

Update: I have revised some of the text as the explanations were not quite clear! Please take note of the changes.

• The Minister of Transportation and the Chair of the Mayors’ Council were meant to vote on our 2011 supplement plan on December 9, 2010, but they have now agreed to extend their decision deadline to March 31, 2011.
• This now gives the Province and the Mayors more time to look at alternate funding options under the Memorandum of Understanding they signed in September.
• The Minister of Transportation and the Chair of the Mayors’ Council have agreed to extend the deadline for confirmation of the region’s contribution to the Evergreen Line Project to March 31, 2011. (Originally, the province had set a deadline of December 31, 2010 for this confirmation.) The new date will allow more time to discuss alternate funding options, as agreed to under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Province and the Mayors’ Council in September.
• However, amid this news, the timeline for TransLink’s 2011 Supplemental Plan still remains on its established path. The supplement plans have already been endorsed by the TransLink Board in November, and by law, this means the Regional Transportation Commissioner must prepare a report on the plans within 30 days, and the Mayors’ Council has 90 days to decide whether to support these plans or not. This means the Mayors’ Council must ultimately decide on the supplement by February 9, 2011, and they can do so in any of their meetings held before February 9. (The Commissioner’s report is due on December 9, 2010.)
• In the case that the Mayors’ Council decides not to endorse any of the supplements, TransLink’s base plan will be put into effect—it maintains our current level of service and a state of good repair.
• The extension also should not compromise the schedules for completing the Evergreen Line or the North Fraser Perimeter Road projects, which are slated to start in 2011.
• Here’s a couple of links that discuss reference this latest news: Jeff Nagel’s article in the Surrey Leader, and Paul Hillsdon’s post on CivicSurrey.com.

What’s the 2011 supplemental plan again?

• Check out the blog’s past updates on the 2011 supplemental plans, which explain the plan’s details and the planning process: here’s the post from Nov 10, 2010, and the post from Oct 8, 2010.
• You can also see our Be Part of the Plan site, which has more details on the 2011 supplemental plan.

A reminder that this news isn’t really coming from TransLink—it’s a provincial and mayors’ announcement—so I don’t actually have lots of further detail to share on this latest development. But if you do have questions I will try my best to refer you to the right place!