Dear Editor:
Regarding your May 30 story, North Van Bus Depot to Close in 2018:
I am afraid someone is spinning you a line. I believe the price for the B.C. Rail site was $12 million and I believe the $18 million was for the cost of the construction of the buildings. The site was ultimately purchased about a year ago by Metro Vancouver for $14 million for the new sewage plant after two lots of decontamination were done by B.C. Rail.
Since that time no one - TransLink, the city, the district - has been looking for a new site. TransLink was quite happy to move the North Vancouver buses to Burnaby, telling everyone that many times in 2005. We have been told they even bought part of the old B.C. Gas site at Lougheed and Boundary but that Burnaby would not allow a bus depot at that site. That site is currently for sale.
We were told in 2005 that 25 per cent of North Shore buses already came over from Burnaby and in seven years I have not heard of any problems with the service.
We were told in 2005 that the current West Vancouver bus garage can only accommodate a maximum of 55 buses; they would have to take over adjacent sites in the area to enlarge it.
West Van buses used what is currently the Lions Gate Academy school site in Harbourside for 6-9 months around 2006-2007 for overnight parking while contamination on their current site was cleaned up.
There are sites on the North Shore that a bus depot could be located but there is not the will of any of the parties involved (TransLink, the city or district) to make it happen nor, as Mayor Darrell Mussatto alluded to, the money.
It would be really nice if we had accurate and complete information on this issue if it was an issue - but it is not really an issue because there is no money.
David Knee, North Vancouver
