Nearly 100 people recently gathered at the Glenbrook Park Amenities Centre to voice their concerns about changes made to the C3 bus route along Richmond Street.
Last fall, in an effort to relieve overcrowding and chronic delays while improving connections to Uptown, TransLink decided to replace the C3 with a rerouted C9. However, re-routing C9 requires the City of New Westminster to install a new bus-only signal at Cumberland and Columbia.
TransLink’s media relations advisor Chris Bryan said at the time, the transportation authority anticipated the sign could be in place by the end of this year. But knowing riders could face 40-minute delays during the Pattullo Bridge construction project, TransLink decided to expedite routing changes to April, to coincide with the deck repairs.
Today, the C9 is operating on a temporary route, which follows East Columbia and turns up Richmond Street to Jamieson Court, where it turns around and returns to East Columbia. At issue is that many seniors, people with mobility issues and those who rely on public transit to get to work are being forced to walk up and down the hill that is Richmond Street to get to the bus stop.
“In response to residents’ concerns, in collaboration with the City of New Westminster, we aim to have the permanent routing in place in September,” Bryan wrote in an email. “At that time, we anticipate the city will have finished installing the bus-only signal … and we will have obtained the additional shuttle required to do the new routing.”
Jim Govett, co-owner of the physiotherapy department inside the New West Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Centre on Richmond Street, said the temporary rerouting has had a negative effect on his business. The bus stop in front of his centre, which is located between Jamieson Court and Miner Street, is not included in the temporary route.
“One of my receptionists drove into work and found somebody sitting on the side of the driveway, so she stopped and asked if she was alright or needed any help, and the comment was, ‘No, I’m just catching my breath. I’m trying to get to a doctor’s appointment, and I had to walk all the way up the hill to get there,’” Govett told the Record.
The physiotherapist added he’s currently looking to hire a new receptionist and not having direct bus service limits his pool of candidates.
“It’s just a very unfortunate setup right now,” said Govett.
Come September when the permanent C9 route is in place, the bus will travel along East Columbia, up Cumberland, left on Richmond Street, do a loop of Jamieson Court, then continue down to East Columbia before continuing west.
The meeting at the Glenbrook centre was organized by New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy.
