Plans for a new Marpole SkyTrain station

Businesses and residents in Marpole are looking forward to having a new SkyTrain station on Cambie Street and 57th Avenue, but doubts about funding for the project remain.

The City of Vancouver is considering how redevelopment in the Marpole area could fund construction of the station, according to Jeffrey Busby, senior manager of infrastructure planning for TransLink.

The project is only in the development stage, and the timeline for construction hasn’t been determined.“It’s something we’d like to achieve in the not-to-distant future, but exactly when that timing will be is unknown at this point,” said Ben Johnson, senior planner for the City of Vancouver.

“It’s a good thing for Marpole,” said Don Barthel, the co-coordinator for Marpole Matters, a group that meets with city officials on behalf of residents, “but I’m not sure if they can get enough money from the developer and from TransLink to build the station.”

Some businesses and residents said they supported having a SkyTrain station in Marpole, like Joan Arguelles, who works at the RBC Royal Bank on 57th Avenue. Arguelles takes the 15 Cambie/Olympic Village Stn. bus to work but said it doesn’t come regularly and is often late.

“I commute every day, so having a train station here would be really convenient,” said Arguelles. She also added that in the morning, the 15 bus is always crowded with Langara students, so having a SkyTrain station in the area would be convenient.

Reported by Gavin Fisher