Highway 1 Fraser Valley Phase 2&3: 216th to Hwy 11 | U/C

[craner]

Originally Posted by madog222

The traffic demand doesn't warrant a third general purpose lane here, it's a very rural stretch with mostly through traffic until the highway reaches Abbotsford. More lanes would only serve to encourage car centric urban sprawl which isn't part of the region's urban planning.

This seems comical given that the highway hasn’t been expanded in 70 years and the population of the region has exploded by 500% in that time. Not to mention the highway is often in grid-lock is it not ?

[Klazu]

Ignore madog, as he clearly doesn't travel Highway 1. This stretch, like the entire highway up to Chilliwack, is already at capacity during most daylight hours of every single day. This expansion will be underbuilt soon after completion, just like the widened Highway 1 through Burnaby has been since completion. Everything this region builds is underbuilt and a decade late.

One can also ignore any fairy tale talk about induced demand as Langley, Aldergrove, Abbotsford and Chilliwack will continue to boom regardless of the number of lanes on the highway thanks to the out of control population growth. There is going to be 500,000 people living in those cities soon and it is always going to be suburban housing without any meaningful transit option. Thinking otherwise is just delusional.

[madog222]

Are the three lanes west of 216 insufficient? There is at maximum only one more through lane for the rest of the highway until the 2nd Narrows, you can't honestly believe there is equal need here than through the rest of Metro Vancouver.

[Metro-One]

The HOV Lane as far as I know will also be for EVs, given how many Teslas I saw in BC this summer, it will practically be a general lane.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

The HOV Lane as far as I know will also be for EVs...

********for now.

you really think they'll keep it that way as more people get into EVs? no way. just like BC Hydro rates will go up as more people use heat pumps, EVs, etc. any savings that exist now, wont in the next 20yrs.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Seems on-brand, Victoria's said the incentives are here to get everybody to switch to EVs - once all of BC is, why keep them?

[jollyburger]

EV don't need to meet the passenger requirement to use the HOV lanes as well.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Klazu

One can also ignore any fairy tale talk about induced demand as Langley, Aldergrove, Abbotsford and Chilliwack will continue to boom regardless of the number of lanes on the highway thanks to the out of control population growth. There is going to be 500,000 people living in those cities soon and it is always going to be suburban housing without any meaningful transit option. Thinking otherwise is just delusional.

One of these cities is getting Skytrain and Rapid Bus. And there's a lot of dense growth happening in the Valley in the form of townhouses and mid-rise apartment buildings. It just doesn't look like Brentwood.

I don't how wide the TCH would need to be to handle the surge in traffic on weekends. As for daily rush hour, adding climbing lanes and redoing problematic interchanges will make a positive impact. Another general purpose lane through the Valley would cost billions of dollars.

[Migrant_Coconut]

As of 2021, the number of Valley commuters (Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack) that actually commute outside of the FVRD is less than 22k/day; the Langleys, barely 3.5k.

Capacity of a six-lane road? 55k. Even including all the commuters headed east from Metro Van and the Sea to Sky, you'd need Abby to keep growing at 8% for the next ~50 years to warrant a fourth lane... and no amount of roadspace will clear the TCH up on weekends. Save those billions for something other than "one more lane" syndrome.

[Metro-One]

Upgrading the interchanges and removing the low clearance overhead structures are the two key factors in improving traffic along this corridor, which are both surprisingly properly being done.

The new 3rd HOV lane, longer truck climbing lanes and bus on (wide) shoulder system should be sufficient enough.

The modernization of this stretch will help out a lot.

[WarrenC12]

HOV lanes seem to be a bit of a failure on their own if you don't allow EVs and/or pay for access. They are empty and not enough people are willing to carpool for access.

We could see pay lanes come in after there are "too many" EVs.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

As of 2021, the number of Valley commuters (Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack) that actually commute outside of the FVRD is less than 22k/day; the Langleys, barely 3.5k.

Capacity of a six-lane road? 55k. Even including all the commuters headed east from Metro Van and the Sea to Sky, you'd need Abby to keep growing at 8% for the next ~50 years to warrant a fourth lane... and no amount of roadspace will clear the TCH up on weekends. Save those billions for something other than "one more lane" syndrome.

The thing that you're missing here is that the Fraser Valley denizens also use the highway to commute between points in the Valley. Sure, if you only had to deal with the through traffic it may not be an issue, but that highway is the most convenient link for local traffic in the Valley too.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

HOV lanes seem to be a bit of a failure on their own if you don't allow EVs and/or pay for access. They are empty and not enough people are willing to carpool for access.

We could see pay lanes come in after there are "too many" EVs.

FWIW the entire point of the HOV lane is for it to be emptier than the genpop lanes.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by chowhou

FWIW the entire point of the HOV lane is for it to be emptier than the genpop lanes.

Not empty, but free flowing. I think it fits that purpose today on most routes during rush hour, with current levels of EV ownership, and the few who actually carpool in the traditional sense.

Prior to EVs, they were too empty IMO.

[s211]

Originally Posted by madog222

The traffic demand doesn't warrant a third general purpose lane here, it's a very rural stretch with mostly through traffic until the highway reaches Abbotsford.

I'm dying to know how a post from the late 1960s somehow resurfaced on this forum.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

The thing that you're missing here is that the Fraser Valley denizens also use the highway to commute between points in the Valley. Sure, if you only had to deal with the through traffic it may not be an issue, but that highway is the most convenient link for local traffic in the Valley too.

Those FVRD residents who use the highway to commute between points in FVRD won't benefit from this project then, which is entirely within the Metro Vancouver Regional District.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

The thing that you're missing here is that the Fraser Valley denizens also use the highway to commute between points in the Valley. Sure, if you only had to deal with the through traffic it may not be an issue, but that highway is the most convenient link for local traffic in the Valley too.

That'll be Abbotsford-Chilliwack, which only has to worry about 14k FVRD commuters or two lanes (the rest of the traffic is presumably from the Interior). This one is Carvolth-Aldergrove.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by s211

I'm dying to know how a post from the late 1960s somehow resurfaced on this forum.

Doesn't matter when or why - it'll still be relevant in 2040.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

That'll be Abbotsford-Chilliwack, which only has to worry about 14k FVRD commuters or two lanes (the rest of the traffic is presumably from the Interior). This one is Carvolth-Aldergrove.

Local traffic uses Highway 1 along its entire length from Vancouver to Hope. There really aren't many decent alternatives for people traveling in the corridor between Surrey and Abbotsford area. So quoting only 22K worth of commuter traffic that's destined for downtown is understating the demand. This should be obvious from the fact that the highway is generally congested throughout the day despite those supposedly low (22K) commuter traffic numbers that are well below your source's estimate of 4-lane capacity (36K).

I'm not trying to make a point that 3 lanes isn't enough, merely that you need to account for more than just Vancouver commuters.

[WarrenC12]

The fact that #1 splits into 3 highways at Hope and is our only real road connection to the rest of the country says it all.