page_title: Evergreen Extension
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Evergreen Extension / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Translink's en:Evergreen Line (TransLink) under construction along North Road, in Burnaby, and Coquitlam British Columbia, Canada. March 9th, 2014.
context_page_description: The Evergreen Extension is a 10.9-kilometre long extension of the Millennium Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The extension runs from Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby to Lafarge Lake–Douglas in Coquitlam and included six new SkyTrain stations and an upgraded existing station on the Millennium Line. It began operations on December 2, 2016.
  Since the extension opened, the Millennium Line has operated between VCC–Clark and Lafarge Lake–Douglas. In 2012, the extension was expected to serve 70,000 passengers per day by 2021.
context_section_description: A rapid transit extension to Coquitlam was intended to be phase II of the new Millennium Line that was completed in 2002. As the costs of the project rose, however, plans to extend the line into Coquitlam were halted, though not before a third incomplete platform on the westbound side of the Lougheed Town Centre station was built, with a spur of tracks for the extension.
  After completion of the Millennium Line, TransLink undertook several studies regarding the fate of the extension, considering a variety of possible options, including a diesel multiple unit-based railway, a streetcar line, a new SkyTrain line, and an express bus service. In September 2002, the 97 B-Line express bus service was launched. In 2004, it was decided that a streetcar line was the best option, as it would better blend in with the neighbourhood, cost less, better fit ridership patterns, and not compete with customers from the existing West Coast Express.
  Detailed design began in October 2006, when the TransLink Board approved the Evergreen Light Rail Transit (LRT) project definition phase. Despite a series of public consultations held during this period, in a community update issued May 2007, TransLink summarized the state of the project as follows:
  Work continues to resolve several outstanding issues before the project proceeds. Until there is project certainty, the planned consultation process in support of detailed design, the planned submission of the Application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate and the anticipated start date of the project construction are delayed.
  This statement prompted local news agencies to assume TransLink had shelved the project. TransLink responded by issuing a subsequent statement on July 19: "The Light Rail Transit system for the Northeast Sector is the number one rapid transit priority for TransLink", TransLink Chair Malcolm Brodie said. "We have defined the project, and now we are waiting for funding to be confirmed from senior levels of government."
  On February 1, 2008, the provincial government and TransLink unveiled a revised business case for the Evergreen extension, preferring the Advanced Light Rapid Transit (ALRT) used by SkyTrain over the light rail technology that had been proposed. The expected completion date was pushed back from 2011 to 2014. On April 18, 2008, the Transport Ministry and TransLink announced that of the two routes proposed in the business case, the North West route was selected after consultation with the various municipalities. On August 5, 2008, the provincial government and TransLink agreed on Evergreen Line delivery. On May 4, 2009, the Ministry of Transportation released a Project Description Report for the Evergreen Line. The report provided more information about the scope and characteristics of the proposed line and detailed the project's environmental and socio-economic requirements.
  On September 3, 2009, the release of the report on TransLink's 2010 ten-year plan by Martin Crilly, the Regional Transportation Commissioner appointed by the provincial government, indicated that rapid transit expansion, which included the Evergreen Line, was highly unlikely without a predictable source of operational funding. Although he stopped short of offering his opinion on the project, he agreed nonetheless with TransLink that upgrades to the existing system should be prioritized before the construction of the Evergreen Line.
  Later that month, the second project update was released by the Evergreen Line Project. The update stated that contractor selection would begin in early to mid-2010, environmental assessment would be completed in 2010, and construction would proceed in late 2010. The update also announced open houses for the environmental assessment process for September 2009 and open houses for preliminary design in October and November 2009. It did not make reference to the funding issues that remained unresolved.
  On October 26, 2009, the TransLink Mayors' Council voted against the increased funding necessary to pursue the Evergreen Line, instead voting for keeping existing 
caption: Construction along North Road in Burnaby and Coquitlam, in March 2014
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