Will an expansion of Royal Columbian Hospital exacerbate Sapperton’s parking and traffic woes or will it make them better?
As part of the plan to expand Royal Columbian Hospital, the city is committed to working with Fraser Health Authority to address transportation and access issues related to the Sapperton site. The city has signed a memorandum of understanding with the province on planning for future improved road, bike and pedestrian access to better meet the hospital’s needs.
Lisa Spitale, the city’s chief administrative officer, said the memorandum of understanding establishes a framework for improving access by all modes to the hospital, particularly for emergency vehicles.
“The expansion will require a detailed transportation plan and the first phase of the redevelopment will include additional on-site parking,” she said. “The city has been working with the Fraser Health Authority on the scope of the transportation and access study, and the development of an effective employee trip reduction program will be part of that study. What we are hearing from FHA is that their newer employees increasingly want to live close to work and avoid commuting by car if possible.”
While Royal Columbian Hospital is the city’s largest employer and contributes to the local economy, it has also been a source of frustration at times for area residents, as a result of parking issues.
“Royal Columbian and Fraser Health are currently supporting the city’s Sapperton parking study and will be key stakeholders in the Sapperton transportation plan process, which will begin this fall,” Spitale told the Record. “RCH’s full involvement in these planning processes will ensure that both hospital and community needs are fully considered.”
Mayor Jonathan Cote said he had a joint meeting with B.C.’s minister of health and the minister of transportation soon after being elected in November 2014.
“They were still at the point where they were contemplating their next steps on Royal Columbian,” he said. “One of their major concerns was access to the hospital, both from emergency vehicles and other vehicles.”
Cote said a neighbourhood traffic plan will be developed for Sapperton, but some things can be done immediately to address the hospital’s needs.
“One thing that we are looking at almost immediately is to have light-controlled responders, to allow emergency vehicles to be able to control lights in the area to assist the flow there,” he said. “We can start to move ahead and start to address some of these issues proactively, and also look to see if there is an opportunity to build an alternative route through the Braid industrial area, in case Braid and Brunette is not accessible. It’s those types of strategies that we have committed with the province to make sure, from a regional hospital perspective, that access is not a challenge.”
As for parking, that’s an ongoing discussion between the City of New Westminster and Fraser Health, Cote said.
“I know the redevelopment does talk about new parking structure. I think there are going to be opportunities for increased capacity there,” he said. “I think one of the challenges we have, even with the existing Royal Columbian Hospital, is not the amount of parking available, it’s that many staff and others are not using the pay parking options available to them and are seeking affordable or free alternatives in the neighbourhood.”
Cote hopes the city will consider the issue as part of its Sapperton parking strategy, a process that is currently underway.
