The development of a $28 million new transit facility in Abbotsford is moving ahead.
BC Transit has bought a five-acre Gladys Road property located just south of the Highway 11 junction from the City of Abbotsford. BC Transit, which paid $2.81 million for the property, has now applied to rezone the property, it announced in a press release Thursday. The assessed value of the land in July of 2016 was $1.8 million.
The existing facility on Riverside Road is currently operating at capacity. The new facility will provide space for the storage and maintenance of about 100 buses to begin, and can be expanded to service 150 vehicles. That will allow the Central Fraser Valley transit system’s bus fleet to roughly double in size.
The facility will include a compressed natural gas fueling station, a bus wash, seven maintenance bays and offices.
Users and residents have long groused about the region’s transit system, and Mayor Henry Braun has said it needs improvement and is “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
The federal government has provided $11.5 million in funding, the province has committed $14.1 million, and local governments will pick up the rest of the tab. The City of Abbotsford has budgeted $2.99 million in its 2018 budget towards the relocation of the transit facility.
BC Transit says the rezoning process will include an open house, a public meeting and a public hearing before council. Questions or comments can be directed to 250-995-5696 or CFVproject@bctransit.com.
