Work is now underway on a new wheelchair-accessible elevator on the west side of Scott Road SkyTrain station in Surrey.
The $5.1-million project is to be finished in 2012 with cost-sharing grants from the federal and provincial government.
“Installing a west-side elevator at Scott Road Station was the number-one priority identified in our consultations with the Access Transit Users Advisory Committee,” said Fred Cummings, president of TransLink's SkyTrain subsidiary.
“As the station grew into a transit exchange, the bus loop was separated from the accessible entrance by a roadway, and TransLink has had to call for a cab to take these customers from the buses to the elevator. Now we can take another step to make the system accessible for all.”
At the official project launch Friday was Al Cleaver, former Surrey fire chief and former member of the Access Transit Users Advisory Committee, who has been an energetic advocate for the new elevator for many years.
The Scott Road project is the latest step in a 30-year process to achieve full accessibility in public transit on the Lower Mainland.
The glass-and-steel construction is similar to the type used when Commercial-Broadway Station was renovated and upgraded in 2009, and will help Scott Road meet Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design guidelines.