The massive multi-billion project of widening Highway 1 in Fraser Valley is now estimated to take more than five years to finish.
The province initially gave a completion date of 2026 for widening the highway in Abbotsford.
“Accelerated advance work” has begun along the Highway 1 median east of 264 Street, with work delivered by local companies including Kwantlen First Nation. Crews are removing soil, tree clearing and utility relocation.
“The Fraser Valley is growing fast and we are building infrastructure that people need,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “People need to be able to get to work and back home without facing gridlock.”
The nine-kilometre stretch of widening from 264 to Mount Lehman Road is expected to cost $2.3 billion, which is Phase 3A of the Province’s Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program, a multi-phase program to improve goods movement and travel along Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley through the Sumas Prairie to Chilliwack.
“People who live in our Fraser Valley communities rely on Highway 1 for more than just commuting. It’s also our connection to schools, sports, shopping and other social activities,” said Dan Coulter, Minister of State for Transit and Infrastructure and MLA for Chilliwack.
Construction is expected to begin in 2024. The 264th Street Interchange, and associated highway widening, is one of the three major construction projects that make up Phase 3A.
The other contracts will be upgrades to the Mt. Lehman Interchange and 3.7 kilometres of highway widening, and the replacement of the Bradner Road overpass with 3.9 kilometres of highway widening. These contracts will go to tender in 2024 with completion of Phase 3A expected in 2029.
Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley sees more than 80,000 drivers daily between Langley and Abbotsford, and through the Sumas Prairie into Chilliwack.