A day after a plan was unveiled to widen a stretch of Highway 1 through Langley, the mayor of Abbotsford says the expansion doesn’t go far enough.
A 10-kilometre stretch between 216th and 264th streets will be expanded with a dedicated high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction. In addition, the 232nd Street interchange will be reconfigured, and a new underpass will be added at Glover Road and at the CP Rail crossing.
WATCH: Abbotsford mayor calls to widen Highway 1 beyond Langley
B.C. Premier John Horgan said the province is working on expanding the highway between Vancouver and Hope in “digestible chunks.”
However, Mayor Henry Braun is upset the latest “chunk” does not include Abbotsford.
“I was disappointed that it’s only going to 264th,” he said.
Braun says the highway needs to be widened all the way to Whatcom Road as congestion in Abbotsford is affecting residents’ quality of life.
“They miss soccer practices, they miss this, they miss that,” he said. “All of these other costs to our quality of life that we don’t typically think of.”
Work on the recently announced expansion won’t begin until 2021.
WATCH: Provincial government announces Hwy. 1 widening
Braun says that gives him a chance to make a case for having a portion of Highway 1 widened through to Abbotsford.
“At the very least, the extension to Mt. Lehman (Road) has to be tacked on to this announcement, in my view,” he said.
— With files from Erin Ubels