Study underway to prepare for Maple Ridge B-Line

New bus link to start at year end

The B-Line starts this year in Maple Ridge. (THE NEWS/files)

The B-Line starts this year in Maple Ridge. (THE NEWS/files)

Maple Ridge wants to make sure you know about the B-Line bus scheduled to start service later this year.

The B-Line will connect Haney Place Mall to SkyTrain at Coquitlam Centre with all-day service, taking 40 minutes one-way.

To prepare for that, the city has conducting a Lougheed Transit Corridor Study. It will give people a chance to comment on what type of development they’d like to see along the highway, as well as Dewdney Trunk Road, from the downtown to the border with Pitt Meadows.

Part of raising awareness includes the mailing out of postcards describing the project. There also will be an open house April 10 at Glenwood elementary from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In addition, the city has also created a new web page that will explain the study. An online survey also will take place between April 11 and May 2.

Metro Vancouver is doing a Lougheed Corridor Land Use and Monitoring Study, which will provide background for the city’s efforts.

And TransLink is currently updating the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Area Transport Plan, which will provide a framework for all transit services in both cities.

TransLink said previously that the new line will use new articulated buses.

The new B-Line bus routes for Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, Vancouver and the North Shore, as well as Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are part of phase one of TransLink’s 10-year-vision on transportation.

The B-Line will have limited numbers of stops in order to speed travel time. Stops are in Haney Place Mall, at Laity Street, 203rd Street and Harris Road on Lougheed Highway, in Pitt Meadows. Future stops could be added at Meadowtown mall and 222nd Street.

Maple Ridge News