Hearings into Oakridge Centre redevelopment begin Monday
Posted March 9, 2014 9:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – At least 90 people have signed up to speak at the hearings for the proposed Oakridge Mall redevelopment, which begin Monday.
The plans call for a doubling of the size of the mall itself, plus the construction of 13 highrises and 3,000 condo and rental units.
Members of the Oakridge Langara Area Residents are hoping the city reconsiders the massive project.
The group’s chair Tracey Moir fears the city hasn’t done its homework.
“The critical information that’s missing is the implications of this project on traffic, the Canada Line, on the bus that runs along 41st Avenue, on the schools in the area, on police, ambulance and fire departments, on liveability,” she explains.
“How do we know we’re going to have enough bus capacity on 41st Avenue for the additional population? There were already 6,600 pass-ups between September and December of 2013.”
She says nearby Churchill elementary is at capacity, while Eric Hamber secondary is already close to full.
She refers to a city report suggesting the Canada Line needs only minor improvements, but she points out at peak times people are already encountering problems getting on the trains.
She says she understands the mall and developer, Westbank Development, have only committed to spend $600,000 to upgrade the Canada Line, only enough to install new fare gates and an escalator.
The hearings begin at 2 p.m. at city hall on Monday.
