Chilliwack city council constantly lobbying BC govt. for improved Hwy. 1 through Chilliwack

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Image: City of Chilliwack / Chilliwack City Council members are pictured.

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However, as Chilliwack council member Chris Kloot pointed out, transportation improvements on Highway 1 east of Abbotsford can’t wait forever.

“We all know the main Fraser Valley transportation corridor is extremely inadequate,” Kloot said via email. “With many local Fraser Valley MLAs currently in government, I can only hope improving and increasing transportation corridors and alternatives such as transit, or even rail like they alluded to in a couple budgets past, receives high priority. I am somewhat disappointed I haven’t heard more focus on widening this critical corridor with bus/HOV lane past Whatcom Road all the way to Chilliwack.”

The Fraser Valley Regional District’s Regional Growth Strategy document outlines critical priorities for transportation improvements, including the extension of HOV and bus lanes through the FVRD. Kloot reports the Fraser Valley is expected to grow by 38 per cent through 2050, meaning tens of thousands of more vehicles will be filling Highway 1 in the years to come.

“From my understanding, the highway widening to Whatcom Road is scheduled to be completed by 2026,” Kloot said. “I believe there is also ongoing consultation regarding raising the highway between Sumas Way and Whatcom because of the November 2021 floods. With a 38 per cent population growth projection in the Fraser Valley by 2050, acting now is paramount as we all know once announced, a construction project isn’t wrapped up in a year or two.”

Councillor Harv Westeringh said in a text message that Chilliwack council has been actively lobbying the provincial government for improvements to Highway 1 through Chilliwack.

“Forever,” Westeringh said when asked how long council has been pushing for widening of Hwy. 1 through Chilliwack. “I’ve only been on council for five years, so I know we have been pushing that long. But, previous councils have also been pushing.”

Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce executive director Leanna Kemp says widening Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley is an absolute essential given the region’s growth.

“Chilliwack is growing rapidly, but traffic is growing, and the increased congestion is slowing down not only commuters but the commercial trucks that account for 8.5% of all traffic through the Valley corridor,” Kemp said in a statement. “A strong and healthy BC economy relies heavily on a vibrant, thriving, efficient trucking industry to keep that economy moving. Widening Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley is essential to ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency for our truck transportation and commuters in and out of the Lower Mainland.”

Elected officials on the FVRD board were scheduled to have a transportation update at its meeting in July, but that update was abruptly cancelled, Kloot pointed out.

“They may have been stuck in traffic,” Kloot said.

To advance construction work between 264 Street in Langley and Highway 11 in Abbotsford, pre-construction work will begin this summer along the highway median between 264 Street and Peardonville Road. This will include the removal of soil berms along five kilometres of highway median east of 264 Street, and placement of soil in other areas where needed in advance of future highway expansion.

Phase 3A will include improvements and widening along a 13-km length of Highway 1 between 264 Street and the Mount Lehman Road interchange (exit 83).

Phase 3B includes improvements along an 8-km stretch of Highway 1 from Mount Lehman Road to Highway 11 (exit 92).

East of Highway 11, any future improvements will address the need for infrastructure to be more resilient to a changing climate, the province said in a statement on August 2. The BC government did not elaborate on what exactly it meant by this statement.