Surrey city council has approved a $6.5 million contract for Jack Cewe Construction Ltd. to build bicycling lanes and pedestrian signals in North Surrey.
The contract is for $6,504,868.65, with a $6,600,000 spending limit, for work to begin this month and be completed by December.
Mayor Brenda Locke said it's "important work. These cycling and pedestrian signals slip through but they're really important to public safety in our city."
A corporate report from Scott Neuman, Surrey's general manager of engineering, indicates it's for 1,250 metres of "protected cycling infrastructure" along 100 Avenue between 148 Street and 154 Street, and 500 metres of "protected cycling and walking infrastructure" along 150 Street between 100 Avenue to 102A Avenue.
"This contract also includes coordinated utility work through the replacement of aging and undersized sanitary sewer along 100 Avenue between 152 Street and 154 Street, as well as pedestrian crossing improvements through the installation of two new overhead flashing crosswalks," Neuman explained, with construction permitted between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday.
As for funding, 63 per cent will come through development cost charges, 32 per cent from TransLink and five per cent from general revenue.
Meantime, council has also given its final approval to a zoning amendment bylaw to revise bicycle parking requirements for multifamily developments with the aim to "improve efficiencies and increase housing affordability."
Tim Yzerman, chairman of HUB Cycling's Surrey/White Rock Committee, told council at a public hearing that city hall could help residents with the cost of living "by reducing the need to own a vehicle as residents could save $16,000 a year by not owning a vehicle."
He asked the politicians to "please build a network of safe and protected cycling infrastructure which will allow people to reduce the need to drive and reduce the need to own a personal vehicle space and reduce the need to have a very expensive $75,000-plus parking stall and maybe be able to use a shared vehicle instead or some other means of transportation."
Council on April 28 had supported a corporate report from Neuman and Ron Gill, Surrey's general manager of planning and development, related to off-street parking for bicycle parking spaces. It concerned a "bike utilization survey" for underground parking and zoning bylaw amendments for council's consideration.
According to the report, city staff conducted on-site surveys of 13 multi-family tower sites – together containing 5,579 dwellings – in the city centre in March and found that "actual bicycle parking utilization rates were significantly lower than the City’s prescribed requirements of 1.2 bicycle spaces per dwelling unit, leading to empty storage rooms which could be used for alternate applications" such as vehicle parking, waste collection and storage space for residents.
"The average utilization rate was 0.1 bicycles per dwelling unit (including unoccupied units) and a maximum utilization rate of 0.27 bicycles per dwelling unit," staff learned.
Gill and Neuman explained this has revealed Surrey’s bicycle parking requirements "for developments along rapid transit corridors are comparable to the region, yet remain significantly underutilized."
Therefore, city staff recommend the bylaw be revised to a minimum of 0.4 spaces per dwelling unit.
Councillor Pardeep Kooner remarked that the utilization rate compared to what city hall was requiring is "kind of shocking so I really appreciate the initiative to bring this forward and to be more practical in how we look at development."
