Residents concerned about SFU gondola plan

Some Burnaby residents are raising questions abouta TransLink proposal to build a $70-million gondola to theSFU campus atop Burnaby Mountain.

The proposed routes go directly over homes in the Pine Ridge Housing Co-op and owner Glen Porter sayshe and other residents have a lot of questions about what that means for them.

"I think the frequency is something like one every 19 seconds," he said.

"We wonder what people will be able to see when they look out and look down. And owners are worried about property values, for sure," said Porter.

Porter says his co-op has a meeting scheduled with TransLink next week.

The proposed gondolawould connect the Production Way SkyTrain station on Lougheed Highway with the SFU campus, about 2.5 kilometres up the mountain using technology similar to the Peak to Peak gondola in Whistler

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie says it could move 3000 people per hour up in half the time it takes on the bus, making it an efficient, environmentally-friendly way to move people.

"All in, there appears to be a favourable business case for doing a gondola," said Hardie.