Open House on Transit Facility
Prince George, B.C. The City has set a date for a public open house for residents to learn more about the proposed BC Transit facility.
The site selection for the maintenance and operations centre has raised concerns with some in the community. The site, which is located at the end of Foothills Boulevard, to the south and west of 18th Avenue, is across from the trail to Ginter’s field, an off leash dog walking site.
There has been opposition to the preferred location, with area residents citing it is the wrong place for a operation that will be industrial in nature. Councillor Jillian Merrick has gone on record saying it is the wrong project period, as she hasn’t seen anything that would warrant the need to spend the $20 plus million dollars for the facility.
The open house is set for Thursday May 11th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm and will take place ni the 2nd floor lounge at the Kin Centre.
BC Transit and City of Prince George staff will be on hand to answer questions about the proposed rezoning of the property and the proposed changes to the Official Community Plan in order for the project to proceed.
In addition to the open house, the city is asking for anyone who may be impacted by the proposed changes to the OCP to submit written comments by 5 p.m. May 19th. Comments should be directed to the Development Services Division at City Hall.
Comments
While it is nice to see new things and some of our tax dollars being spent in our fine city. But why there? Just seems so odd to build a lite industrial facility in among homes; places of leisure and entertainment; a park like setting. There is so much that needs to be rejuvenated east of Queensway. There is so much developed land ready for building near the airport. Begs the question, what is going on? Is not the city concerned about urban sprawl? What about industrial sprawl as well?
Good comment Cheetos; I agree
Exceedingly good observations Cheetos particularly your comments as to why would the City “put it here”.
The City has plenty of industrial parks. Ie; Ongman, BC Rail, Carter light, Boundry Road, plus East of Queensway, and of course the Hart Highway.
So why locate in this area??? That is the question. Find out when and why the City bought this property and you will be getting closer to the answer. Did they look at any other areas before they bought this property.??
I was always under the impression that it was a repair facility. Thus it does make more sense for it to be in the bowl. Should it go down on the otherside of Queensawy. I think land assembly will be an issue. As well, the 200 year flood plain.
Funny they did not buy the Inland Kenworth site on Quinn. Tear down that old building and build a suitable building.
The other objective, in my opinion is that this building will be a catalyst to further development in this corridor. Foothills to connect to Ferry Avenue will happen. They may punch the next access up the hill to catch University way as well. I know there will be a lot of squawking about taking Ginter’s field out… but its not a park, it is just under utilized land space. I am assuming the city is going to develop residence thru this area, to pay for some of the infrastructure that is being built. Good on them.
Yeah I bet there will be squawking if they take out Ginter’s field out.
Why would we need to further encroach on some of the only good things about PG? I’m talking about access and proximity to green spaces.
Certainly there isn’t a lot of new industry or massive influx of new people that would necessitate expanded development.
City council is using PG as their own little “Sim City” to prove how great they are at managing a city – I’m sure so they can then go on to another, larger city to further their careers. In the meantime there are those of us that are permanent residents, and actually like things such as Ginter’s field, not having a bus repair shop or busy boulevard built right on top of their backyards. Look at the land in question, Foothills->Ferry connection leaves very little room between the hill and the residences, and will involve building a road over top of an essentially brand new paved walking path that is HEAVILY used. I think any proposed plan to develop that road would be met with resistance, and rightly so. The known instability of the slope would be further undermined by building a 4 lane road there I believe.
PG isn’t really growing, is it? We need to be strategic about where we choose to spend our finite civil infrastructure dollars. I know it isn’t “sexy” but our entire (water/sewer) infrastructure is aging quite poorly – we need to be revitalizing it, one construction season at a time. Rising costs of maintenance are obviously a function of not refreshing infrastructure.
This bus maintenance facility, if it is needed, should be located in one of the many industrial parks around town as indicated by earlier posters, not a residential/leisure zone. Full stop.
More good points Spidey. Well said.
Connecting Foothills to Ferry Avenue would be a waste of money and a destruction of some valuable urban green space. It would save 400 metres in distance over the existing 18th then Ospika route. It would destroy the property values, air quality, and peacefulness of those houses that back onto it. It would eliminate a good portion of Ginters Field that gets extensive use by residents. Go there on a weekend and see how many people are out there.
That is why the online petition at change.org “Right facility, wrong location. Find an alternate location for BC Transit facility” has close to 1500 signatures.
That is why the Facebook page “Greenspace or Transit Hub ? #18th_Foothills.” has over 500 members.
The bus depot itself is forecast to generate 1400 vehicle trips a day. That is an average of 1/minute, 24 hours a day, but you can be sure that peak traffic will be much higher than this. Why put such a polluting facility into the airshed of the bowl? Don’t we have enough air quality problems already?
As far as punching another access road up to University Way -well that is a major pipedream with a 16% grade from Ginters up that hill. You might more profitably suggest the establishment of a ski run or tubing facility!
This location makes no sense which means that it is in keeping with city thinking. Wells is out of control. If the world says it’s green, he wants it red.
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