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Former Surrey landfill site pitched for riverfront trails, group camping area

Grant application would cover $9.97 million project cost at Port Mann Park, report to council says
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A view of plans for Surrey’s Port Mann Park, as seen in a report to city council. (Image: surrey.ca)

The City of Surrey wants to create a trail network and group camping area on, and near, a former landfill located on the northern edge of the city, southeast of Port Mann Bridge.

The Port Mann Park Trails and Fraserview Greenway site, at 11510 150th St., is subject of a federal/provincial grant application that would cover the estimated $9.97 million project cost.

The project, still in the early stages of design development, would expand the city’s greenway network by approximately three kilometres, provide more than two kilometres of new trail connections to the greenway and adjacent park lands, new trailhead washroom facilities, parking for approximately 4o vehicles and improve local group camping facilities, according to a council report.

The city has pitched the project for the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream (CVRIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Grant Program.

“If the grant application is successful, staff anticipate construction will start in late spring 2021 and construction will be completed before the end of 2021,” says the report to council.

“This project depends on infrastructure funding to proceed as described. If the City’s application for grant funding is not successful, the project would not proceed.”

On surrey.ca, Port Mann Park is described as “currently undeveloped land that used to be the Port Mann landfill,” which operated from 1969 to 1997. “In the latter years of its operation, a portion of the tipping fees related to waste hauled to the site were set aside for decommissioning of the landfill, restoration of the land and redevelopment of the site as a park. The site is located at a highly visible location and provides panoramic views of the Fraser River.”

As of December 2013, “the site is undergoing the final phases of remediation,” the webpage notes. “Currently, the area where the landfill operated is covered with grass and is subject to surface undulations as the waste buried in the landfill consolidates. This area is closed to the public until it has been redeveloped as a new park.”

• RELATED STORY, from 2020: Pipeline work in Surrey starts soon, $500K trail network to come in Fraser Heights.

Last October, as part of pipeline construction in the area, federal Crown corporation Trans Mountain signed a “Community Benefit Agreement” with the City of Surrey to contribute $500,000 toward enhancing the local trail network in the Fraser Heights area of Surrey.

“The pathway will overlie portions of the new Trans Mountain pipeline right-of-way for a total length of approximately 2.2 kilometres, and will be up to four metres wide,” noted a news release, posted to transmountain.com. “This enhancement will help to grow the local trail network and will be an important addition to the community.”

Elsewhere in Surrey, city hall has launched an online survey for public input on plans to build a new 2.2-hectare (5.5 acre) neighbourhood park, temporarily named 58B Neighbourhood Park, at 72nd Avenue and 191st Street, along Hazelgrove Greenway.

The 58B Neighbourhood Park plan is subject of a survey posted to surrey.ca/newparks until March 11.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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