Langley businesses worried about impacts as city centre revitalization gears up

Businesses in Langley, B.C. are bracing for impacts as the city gets ready to revitalize its historic city centre.

Starting Jan. 2, 2025, work will begin on the Fraser Highway One-Way Project. The $18-million, two-phase project aims to improve pedestrian walkways, replace aging infrastructure, create more community spaces and revitalize the landscaping.

Phase one will begin between Salt Lane and 206 Street and will limit parking along the road.

Everything but Diamonds owner David Stingl says while businesses have known about the plans for some time, there are lingering concerns about how shops will fare once work gets underway.
“We’re obviously really concerned that there isn’t a lot for the merchants in terms of making sure that the city is doing adequate marketing, that type of thing, so that people know we’re open during the closure,” he said.

“I don’t know that some of the businesses are going to survive the closure.”

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One big concern is a large fence that will run down the sidewalk, leaving limited space for pedestrians. Stingl says this will present a accessibility challenge for some people like seniors.

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Stingl also says he would like to see more security to make sure none of the shops are negatively impacted.

“The project is millions and millions of dollars, and it just seems like they haven’t really done a lot for actually mitigating the impact that it’s going to have on the businesses,” Stingl said.

Randy’s Game Shop owner Randy Rennes echoes Stingl’s concerns, especially when it comes to losing the parking in front of his shop.

“It’s bad enough here some days when it’s busy to get parking and access to stores so it’s hard to say how it’s going to be when construction actually starts,” he said.

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Stingl says the city has provided pamphlets for businesses to hand out to customers, but he also thinks there could have been signs to warn people about the imminent road and parking closures.

“I’m concerned for a lot of business owners down here,” he said. “I think this is going to be a significant impact and I just hope the project goes quickly.”

The City of Langley did not respond to request for comment before publication deadline.

Construction is slated to last until the summer of 2025.