SOUTH SURREY - A six-foot tall iron fence erected along the rail line on East Beach doesn't seem to be keeping people off the tracks, but it will create problems for beachgoers come summertime.
That's the message from local business owners Tonia and Darren Marshall, who own Feral Boardsports and are located right beside the newly installed fence.The fence was erected last week by rail operator BNSF under an agreement with Transport Canada and the Semiahmoo First Nation and came as a result of a review following the death of Anita Lewis in July 2013. Lewis was struck and killed by a train while jogging along East Beach.While Tonia said she understands and agrees that safety is important, she feels the fence is little more than a Band-Aid solution in order for Transport Canada to say something was done."This fence is not doing what it's supposed to be doing," she said. "There are still people walking along the track, there were people pushing baby carriages down the railway with the fence beside it so it's not doing its job."There is still an opening in the fence for people to access the beach, but Tonia said come the busy summer season, there would undoubtedly be issues."They're (Transport Canada) expecting people to carry their boats through the small opening, the same one for families and everyone else," she explained. "I can see a lot of problems there, people getting hurt, the parking lot being jammed. It's a mess waiting to happen."Asked why the smaller fencing similar to what's along White Rock's promenade was not used, Gus Melonas, spokesman for BNSF said, "The fence for this location meets BNSF engineering requirements."Asked if anything could change due to feedback, Melonas said they would be discussing with Semiahmoo First Nation if they would like to add "decorative visual enhancements."White Rock Coun. Grant Meyer, head of the city's Rail Safety Task Force, said they were not notified about the fence's installation as it was technically in Surrey.The south portion of Marine Drive east of Maple Street is where the Surrey border begins, though that land is under control of the Semiahmoo First Nation."It's too bad, I think another case of overkill," he said, noting the fence is similar to what BNSF and Transport Canada wanted to have along West Beach."Having it that big was one of the suggestions for our waterfront and we fought hard against that, we argued that would ruin the beach," said Meyer.For Meyer, the size and look of the fence appears to be an overreaction to the issue of rail safety, especially given the relatively low number of incidents involving trains compared to the number of people that cross the tracks each year."I grew up here and you just pulled up in gravel lots and there was no promenade and no fence and you just kind of crossed little trails to the beach," recalled Meyer. "That's what the whole waterfront was back in the day."As for the Marshalls, they're hoping common sense will prevail at Transport Canada and BNSF before the fence turns people off of East Beach entirely."It's really hard on everybody and they just made it harder while not solving a problem. This doesn't do anything to solve the issue, we were there on the weekend just counting the people walking on the tracks - the same people they're supposed to be trying to prevent from doing so," said Tonia. "If Transport Canada would just come and see that."A Semiahmoo First Nation rep did not respond to a request for comment.cpoon@thenownewspaper.com