Image: Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure / The provincial government announced Thursday (August 14) that it will allocate over $2.6 billion in new funding that will widen and improve Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley, claiming that highway improvements once built will relieve traffic tie-ups and ease daily commutes on a heavily congested, frequently bottlenecked stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Langley and Abbotsford.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Highway 1 improvements

BC touts $2.65 billion in new funding for Hwy. 1 widening, but Langley councillor blasts NDP for ‘8th announcement’

Aug 14, 2024 | 2:16 PM

CHILLIWACK — The provincial government announced Thursday (August 14) that it will allocate over $2.6 billion in new funding that will widen and improve Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley, claiming that highway improvements once built will relieve traffic tie-ups and ease daily commutes on a heavily congested, frequently bottlenecked stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Langley and Abbotsford.

In a news release, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says new funding of $2.65 billion has been approved for upgrades to Highway 1 between Mount Lehman Road (exit 83) and Highway 11 (exit 92) in Abbotsford, building on a previously approved $2.34 billion funding allocation in fall 2023 for upgrades between 264 Street (exit 73) and Mount Lehman Road (exit 83).

One critic of Wednesday’s announcement, Langley Township Councillor Misty Van Popta, blasted the B.C. NDP government for its eighth announcement about the highway when the bulk of Highway 1 public improvements through the Fraser Valley have not been completed.

“As someone who sits in this crap everyday, this is the 8th announcement under the NDP on Hwy. 1,” Van Popta said. “Just get it done already. Can’t wait to see how many years late and how much over budget it is at the end. Less time and money on photo ops and more on project deliverables, please.”

Two elected officials from Chilliwack City Council have been vocal in the past about what they perceive as the slow progress of Highway 1 improvements through to Chilliwack, including Councillor Bud Mercer, who has said that he will likely be in an “old folks home” by the time improvements are done in Chilliwack.

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The government says the Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program will eventually see the highway expanded through the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford toward Chilliwack, but no one from the government has provided any kind of specific date around when that might occur. The government has also said the improvements only go to Yale Road West at exit 109, not through to the remainder of Chilliwack at interchanges like Lickman Road (exit 116), eastbound Evans Road (exit 118) and the heavily-travelled Vedder Road (exit 119) interchange. Chilliwack has over 113,000 people and was the second-fastest growing city in Canada from 2016 to 2021, meaning traffic is only bound to increase.

Still, Premier David Eby stuck to his guns in a statement.

“To make life better for people in the fast-growing Fraser Valley, our government is building the homes, schools, hospitals and highways families need,” said Eby. “By improving Highway 1, we’ll keep goods moving smoothly and help people get to work and back home faster, so they can spend less time stuck in traffic and more time with their families.”

A daily check of DriveBC on X/Twitter reveals that crashes, vehicle incidents, and other bottlenecks are a frequent weekly occurrence between Chilliwack and Metro Vancouver. Currently, westbound Highway 1 only adds an HOV lane near 216 Street in Langley, close to exit 61, meaning Chilliwack commuters who head to Surrey or Vancouver must travel westbound on a mostly two-lane stretch of congested Highway 1 for at least 45 kilometres before an additional lane gets added, with the exception of a stretch of westbound Highway 1 in Abbotsford where a third lane gets added on an uphill stretch.

Image: Cassandra Courtemanche, used with permission / An all too common occurrence on Highway 1 through Abbotsford near the Whatcom Road interchange.

“I know that many people in the Fraser Valley find travel increasingly difficult, given the traffic volume on Highway 1, and we’re working hard to address these concerns,” said Dan Coulter, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit. “We’re focusing on improvements to the highway through widening to accommodate sustainable transportation and better, more accessible interchanges to make it easier and quicker for people to get where they need to go.”

The government says that along the 28-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 between 216 Street and Abbotsford, overpasses at Peardonville Road, Bradner Road and the CPKC rail overhead will be rebuilt to improve the height clearance for commercial vehicles, improving safety for all road users. The Glover Road crossing has been completed.

New interchanges will be constructed at 232 Street, 264 Street, Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 to improve community connections, and to make travel by walking or bike safer and more accessible. High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along the length of this section of highway and bus-on-shoulder lanes in some sections will make travel by transit quicker and more reliable.

Major construction will begin on the $2.34-billion section between 264 Street and Mount Lehman Road in 2024, with completion of the fourth major phase expected in 2029.

Procurement for the $2.65-billion improvements to Highway 1 between Mt. Lehman Road and Highway 11 – the fourth major phase – will begin in 2025. Major construction will start in 2026, with completion in 2031.

Image: B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure / Highway 1 improvement map.

However, the government has not said when the improvements will be completed through to Chilliwack. Given the completion estimate of 2031 for the stretch between Mt. Lehman Road and Highway 11, it could be the mid-2030s, or at least eight years from now, before those improvements are in place west of Chilliwack.