Council withdraws support for Bus Hub location, City will look for new spot

After months of controversy, long decisions, petitions, and an open house, City Council unanimously decided to withdraw its support for the proposed BC Transit facility at Monday night’s meeting.

The bus hub was originally planned to be built near 18th and Foothills. The spot would’ve included a washing station, fuel pump, garages, and a new eco-friendly bus fleet that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent.

However, the project was always met with concerns about lost green space, added noise and air pollution, and safety concerns regarding added traffic close to the soccer fields. Over 200 people, like Susanne Williamson, showed up to a city-run open house to voice their opinions last month. Now that Council has withdrawn its support for the location, Williamson is pleased to see they were paying attention.

“They followed the process and they listened and they were not so proud that they couldn’t admit that perhaps this wasn’t the right decision for Prince George. They listened to what people were telling them. I think they’ve absolutely done their job.”

Williamson created a few petitions opposing the facility location and gathered over 4,000 signatures. Yet, she wasn’t angry with Council and was excited when the city started moving award from the proposed spot.

“For the most part, people share that respectfully and Council really responded positively to that. I think taking a positive approach is the only way to make a partnership happen,” she says, “There’s a definite support for green space in Prince George and council is really excited about how engaged the citizens became and so am I. I think it’s fantastic.”

Also pleased with the relationship between council and the project-opposing citizens was Councillor Susan Scott.

“Don’t just complain or criticize, offer alternatives and it was the people that showed up at that information meeting that finally pressed to the point that BC Transit said ‘yeah, we’d consider an another alternative,'” she says, “I’m really proud of the citizens of Prince George for speaking up and getting involved.”

Moving forward, it’s possible the city loses or has to re-apply for grant money it was given for this project. Both the city and BC Transit will look elsewhere for a new bus facility location.