LORIE SCOTT photo

The Six-Pack

With a variety of roadway changes, infrastructure improvements, railway hazards, safety initiatives and engineering disasters in South Surrey and Crescent Beach, this TNT brings you up to speed on the following half dozen stories, some old, some new, and others that just won't die.

KGB bridge crash 

The King George Blvd. bridge over the Nicomekl River is going to need some repairs and safety improvements after a serious accident there last weekend.  A vehicle heading northbound before the bridge left the roadway, crossed onto the wide riverfront sidewalk and crashed head-on into the pedestrian railing.  The mangled railing crashed to the walkway below with the car left dangling at the top of the hill.  If this accident had happened only metres away, the vehicle would have flown off the bridge abutment, sailed through the air and likely landed upside down in the river.  Besides poor driving and probable excessive speed, the lack of concrete no-posts along the road in this area was a major contributor to this crash.  It's back to the drawing board for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for this glaring oversight.  The north side of this bridge by comparison has a long line of no-posts that stretch to the nearby Park & Ride lot.

Crescent Road traffic circle

With no fanfare, the roundabout at 128 St. and Crescent Road had a soft opening this weekend now that the first layer of asphalt has been laid down.  The curbing is still to be completed, proper signage installed and sidewalks put in, but this new intersection is quite drive-able with caution.  Even with all of the traffic cones, barricades and look of an active construction zone, it was still a breeze to roll around this former all-way stop.  Of course, this was during a long weekend when everyone was either out of town or visiting the Cloverdale Rodeo.  The cold and gloomy weather also kept most people away from Crescent Beach as well.  Hopefully this roundabout will be fully completed before the next warm and sunny weekend when hordes of people will descend to the beach.  That will be the true test, but for now the traffic flow looks amazing.  Remember to flip on your right turn signal when you reach the point in the circle where you are going to turn off so people waiting to enter know you are exiting.

Christopherson Steps railway fence

After recently writing to the Surrey Engineering Department and BNSF Railway about safety concerns, it was nice to see some positive changes being made at the bottom of the Christopherson Steps to help reduce trespassing onto the train tracks.  Last year, I sent a letter to Surrey Parks warning them of sharp metal posts and fencing hanging down on the south side of the stairs.  They responded by installing a panel of chain link fence over this opening, blocking off the area that people were walking through to access the tracks.  The north side was left open with what would be best called an elephant trail leading up to the railway tracks.  I'm not sure if it was Surrey Parks or the BNSF Railway but last week crews installed more chain link blocking off most of the north side access.  Unfortunately at the far end of this fencing there is a large gap where people can easily crawl under where the fence should have reached the ground.  There is another hole near the staircase where several pieces of small boards have been loosely stuck in place.   These will soon become kindling for a beach fire and a second hole will be open for people to crawl through.

McBride Avenue railway crossing 

The McBride Ave. railway crossing in Crescent Beach is slowly being made safer after my TNT on this dangerous crossing with a laundry list of safety improvements was sent to both Surrey and the BNSF.  The Railway responded to my concerns about single "No Trespassing" signs being far down the tracks on either side of this crossing, which is a known focal point for much of the trespassing that happens on the Crescent Beach tracks.  The Railway realized I had a valid point about this and has now posted two signs on either side of the crossing and on both sides of the tracks.  That being said, trespassers are still using this as a pedestrian walkway with the ridiculous, idiotic and ugly Crescent Beach fence now blocking off the end of Bayview Ave. and forcing people to walk on the tracks instead of safely crossing as had been done for decades.  As far as all of the recommendations I have made to the City of Surrey for better signage and road markings at the dangerous McBride Ave. crossing, to date they have done absolutely nothing.  I know their traffic division was supposed to deal with this issue but so far their response is zero, zip, zilch, nada.  We need a DOGE at the Surrey Engineering Dept.

Crescent Beach fence project - Bayview Avenue

The Bayview fence project that went off the rails so many times it was like watching a slow motion trail derailment continues to roll along.  The blackberries Surrey mowed down along this useless and wasteful fence have now sprouted and are already starting to grow through the chain link.  An FOI from a group of concerned residents has revealed that while the project was to have cost $650,000 for both sides of the tracks, changes that were made meant $660,000 has been spent on the one side only.  Even worse, Surrey used silver chain link fencing instead of the called for black colour and facing criticism along with the possibility of a lawsuit for decreased property values, they are now looking at painting the entire 2,150 feet of this fence.  Fed up looking out their window at what locals now refer to as "Alcatraz Beach" one of the Bayview residents has painted some of the chain link fence black, painted the concrete no-post curbing a darker grey and covered the crushed limestone with topsoil and wildflower seeds.  I must admit it does look much better but removing this 2,150 foot long eyesore that has made railway trespassing even worse is the only logical solution.

I saved the best for last.  The west side of the Crescent Beach fencing project has been delayed since changes along Bayview Ave. ate up all the budget for this ridiculous project.  It now turns out that due to terrain issues, Surrey will not be able to use the large concrete no-posts along Maple Street and will have to dig fence post holes as was originally planned.  This means that an archaeological survey needs to be done for the affected area.  When this is complete, the digging will have to be monitored and any removed soil checked for indigenous artifacts and human remains.  Not only will this delay the completion of all the fencing on either side of the tracks by an estimated 12-18 months, it will also result in skyrocketing costs.  Could it be possible that this entire bureaucratic boondoggle will eat up a million tax-payer dollars before it is done?  It is quite realistic and that is why I will be submitting the Crescent Beach fence project to the Canadian TaxPayers Federation as a candidate for a Teddy Award on government waste.  The last pork-barrel winner we had here was Translink's South Surrey Park & Ride Lot that won back in 2014.  In case you were wondering, I nominated that idiotic money pit as well.

Naturally yours,

Don Pitcairn

I wish to acknowledge we live, work and play on the traditional lands of the Semiahmoo People

An elderly man accidentally rear-ended a guy driving a flashy European sports car. The driver exploded with rage, jumped out, and yelled,

“Look what you did to my car! You’re going to give me $10,000 right now or I’m going to beat you to a pulp!”

Shaken and scared, the old man replied,

“Oh my€¦ I don’t have that kind of money. Let me call my son. He trains dolphins ” he’ll know what to do.”

“Dolphins?!” the guy scoffed, rolling his eyes.

The old man pulled out his phone to call his son. But before he could finish dialing, the angry man yanked the phone from his hand and shouted,

“So, YOU’RE a dolphin trainer, huh? Your old man hit my car, and I need ten grand right now ” or you’re both getting wrecked!”

On the other end of the line came a calm voice:

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

Sure enough, 10 minutes later, a Jeep screeched to a halt. A guy stepped out... and let’s just say he handled the situation. That angry driver was left in a crumpled, groaning heap on the side of the road.

Then the son turned to his father with a grin and said,

“Dad, for the last time I train SEALS. Navy SEALS. Not dolphins.”