Image: File photo / A heavily congested Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Chilliwack appears in this file photo. B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad has pledged to widen Highway 1 to six lanes through Chilliwack if elected.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Provincial election

B.C. Conservatives pledge to expand Highway 1 to 6 lanes through Chilliwack

Oct 3, 2024 | 11:29 AM

CHILLIWACK — B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad has pledged to widen Highway 1 to six lanes through Chilliwack if elected.

Rustad released elements of his transportation platform Thursday morning (Oct. 3), saying the governing B.C. New Democratic Party has failed to make what it calls “common sense investments in vital infrastructure despite population growth surges in British Columbia.”

“The less time is spent simply getting around, the more time British Columbians can spend with family and doing things that matter,” Rustad wrote in a statement. “The Conservative Party of BC will revitalize our transportation system with long-term investments to improve safety, reduce congestion, and get BC moving.”

Image: John Rustad / B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad.

One of his transportation objectives consists of expanding Highway 1 to six lanes through Chilliwack.

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“Highway 1 is the most critical transportation link in B.C.,” Rustad said. “It’s time to act like our entire economy depends on it, because it does.”

After the provincial government announced on August 14, 2024 that it would allocate over $2.6 billion in new funding to widen and improve Highway 1 between Langley and Abbotsford, a Langley Township councillor, Misty Van Popta, blasted the B.C. government for what she said was its eighth announcement about the highway when the bulk of Highway 1 public improvements through the Fraser Valley have not been completed. Highway improvements between Mount Lehman Road and Sumas Way (exit 92) aren’t projected to be complete until 2031, and there’s still work to do between Sumas Way and Chilliwack.

“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.”

In addition to widening Highway 1, Rustad pledged to address the following public works improvements in British Columbia:

• Commit to a new bridge across Okanagan Lake by working with the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna to identify a preferred route, then adding the project into the provincial capital plan for completion no later than 2032.
• Replace the aging Taylor Bridge across the Peace River.
• Rebuild the Red Bridge in Kamloops. After the tragedy of Lytton, the NDP just can’t be trusted to deliver even when disaster strikes. We will get the job done.
• Upgrade Highway 19 in Nanaimo with grade separation at the most dangerous and congested intersections.
• Identify and rebuild outdated Hwy. 1 exits and interchanges that are past their useful life, are unsafe, and responsible for bottlenecks, such as Brunette Ave. in Coquitlam.

“After 7 years of the NDP, aging infrastructure and inadequate public transit are drag on daily life and our economy,” Rustad said. “While demand for all types of infrastructure continues to grow, the NDP has failed to fix the bottlenecks that exist today — let alone build what’s needed in the future. And we’ll do it without resorting to road pricing or tolls, unlike David Eby’s plan for road tolls that he continues to keep BC in the dark about.