By Philip Raphael
contributor

Are rapid transit links for Richmond and Vancouver International Airport off the rails before they can even get past the initial discussion stage?

Not according to Coun. Lyn Greenhill who is also chair of the city's public works and transportation committee.

She doesn't believe Tranlink's decision last week to exclude talks on a SkyTrain extension west of Granville Street in Vancouver, a move that could rule out the use of the existing Arbutus rail corridor for a Richmond route, puts the entire connection in jeopardy.

Greenhill maintains that Richmond is a priority for a rapid transit link and should be given prime consideration.

"Things have got to change. If Vancouver wants Richmond people to go into their city for work or to shop, then they will have to help provide a rapid transit system."

Re-opening discussion of a Richmond link comes after substantial studies were done in the early 1990s that pointed to the need for the service, but railed to decide upon a route.

With the abandonment of talks on the Arbutus option, the attention is expected to now shift towards a route along Cambie Street, one that Richmond favours because immediate ridership figures would be higher given the number of large employers and major destinations - Vancouver Hospital, Vancouver City Hall, St. Vincent's Hospital, and Children's Hospital among them - lining the route.

But Cambie would also likely cost more since a large portion of the route would need to be placed underground, a fact that would likely bring more problems to the surface in terms of protests by area residents.

"Cambie would be a little more difficult than Arbutus now that the city of Vancouver has labelled the median running along the street as Cambie Heritage Boulevard," Greenhill said.

But the designation, granted in 1993, is much more than just a mere label, said Jim Wolf, a heritage planning analyst with the City of Vancouver.

It carries full protection in terms of provincial heritage designation and any changes to the land must first receive approval from city council, he said.

"It's also much more than a bunch of trees. It's history," added 74-year-old Ethel Karmd who has lived her entire life in the neighbourhood surrounding the boulevard and helped spearhead the Cambie Heritage Boulevard Society.

"It's the gateway to our city. It's been used for special occasions like visits by Queen Elizabeth, President Clinton and Yeltsin (former Russian President Boris Yeltsin) had lunch up there at Queen Elizabeth Park, Rick Hansen used Cambie as the last leg of his Man in Motion tour. And to celebrate Canada's centenary, Vancouver's sister dry, Yokohama, gave us 100 Yoshino flowering cherry trees to be planted on the boulevard."

Karmel said her group is opposed to any form of rapid transit navigating its way down Cambie Street either above ground, at-grade or underground.

"I especially don't like SkyTrain which has shown that it attracts crime. Just look at Metrolown and the Commercial Drive area to see what it has done."

The boulevard was the vision of Harland Bartholomew, an American planning consultant who in the late 1930s helped lay down the blueprint for many of Vancouver's parks.

"He designed the boulevard to be a stretch of land that people could enjoy from their cars as they drove into the city," Karmel explained. "And why should we desecrate something so beautiful."The main concern about an underground Cambie Street route is not focused on the damage construction may cause to the 900 or so trees lining the green space.

Paul Montpellier, an arborist with the Vancouver Parks and Recreation Board said the trees, including a stand of eight, 70-foot-tall Sequoias, are relatively shallow rooted and likely not be harmed by tunneling.

While decisions on a route are a long way off, TransLink has set out a three-step approach to the project.

The first, which began last week, was to start discussions of a project management plan between the groups involved, including civic governments in Vancouver and Richmond, TransLink, and the airport authority.

The second phase would look at which type of system would be used, and the third would marry that choice of technology to a designated route. As TransLink deals with the first phase, Greenhill said she has looked ahead to the second and sees a potential stop sign on the road ahead.