Senior lobbies for better access

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 10, 2005


Why does the busiest SkyTrain station in Burnaby have one of the smallest elevators?

That's the million-dollar question being asked by former city resident 77-year-old Ron Eikenberry, who has started a petition to convince TransLink to install a new, larger elevator at the 19-year- old rapid transit station.

"You know, there's a whole lot of people who want to get into this little elevator, but if there's just one scooter in there, you don't have enough room," Eikenberry told the Burnaby NOW this week.

And he should know. Eikenberry is a Canadian veteran who received the services of a big, shiny red scooter to get around after he was diagnosed with foot problems. But his scooter is so large that it makes it almost impossible to fit into the Metrotown station elevator if someone else with a scooter, baby stroller, bicycle or even a shopping cart wants to go on the same ride.

Eikenberry thinks Metrotown station needs a larger new elevator, like the big new glass-enclosed device that was installed at Broadway station last year when the new Millennium SkyTrain Line was opened. "You can fit four scooters into that one," he said.

This week, Eikenberry began collecting names on a petition that he intends to present to the TransLink board of directors next month. While he collected 250 names in just the first four hours of collecting, he hopes to have 2,500 signatures by the time he's finished.

And Eikenberry is not the first person to complain about inadequate access to the Metrotown SkyTrain station.

Burnaby city council has complained for years about the difficulties faced by people with scooters, wheelchairs or other mobility devices when they try to move from the shopping mall to the rapid transit station.

The existing "passarelle" that connects the malls to the SkyTrain station has three sets of stairs, making that route impossible to negotiate for anyone with a significant mobility impairment.

Ken Hardie, director of communications for TransLink, said there are plans in the works to develop better handicapped access at the Metrotown station, but the project is still in the discussion stage.

"I don't know what the status of those talks are, and I don't know how high up the interest scale it's come," Hardie said.

If a new elevator is going to be built, it will likely happen in conjunction with another proposal to bring more retail opportunities to the station, Hardie said.

"We do have a proposal for expressions of interest for retail opportunities at the stations, and we're waiting to see if the retail sector is interested," he said.

"Obviously, that would provide an opportunity to improve the elevators and other things at the station, such as lighting."

Another hurdle is trying to fit the elevator into TransLink's $4 billion capital improvement plan over the next four years.

That spending plan already includes projects such as the Richmond- Airport-Vancouver (RAV) line, the Coquitlam rapid transit extension, plus the ongoing expansion of the Lower Mainland's bus service.

"Obviously (the elevator) would be in competition with a lot of things that need to be done in the region," he said.

"And one of the ways that people certainly do get things on the radar screen is to attend as a delegation to the TransLink board.

"There's no doubt, we're dealing with a station that is 20 years old, and, yes, times have changed," he said.

"The number and especially the size of scooters has changed significantly. We've even had serious discussions with the manufacturers that whatever they sell has to be able to fit on buses and the rapid transit services.

"But even baby strollers are getting to be quite humongous," he said. "There are quite often conflicts for space between strollers, scooters, passengers and cyclists. So it does become more of an issue for us to manage."

Earlier this year, Eikenberry successfully petitioned TransLink to build a concrete wheelchair ramp into the sidewalk in front of the Joyce Street station.

After that project was completed in April, Eikenberry received a 'certificate of persistence' signed by two SkyTrain operations managers.

"My dad always said, if something's worthwhile to get, go for it and don't let anybody talk you out of it," he said.