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

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Klazu

It is hard to tell from the website, but the plan is to basically have only 3+3 lanes past 200 Street and not to continue the 4+4 configuration? Am I also reading correctly that there is some "bus lane on the shoulder" type of crap past Mt Lehman, so no proper six lanes?

HOV in left most lane AND bus on [right] shoulder, if we don't count the bus on shoulder it's 3+3 plus a a fourth lane in select sections.

[Klazu]

The full PDF is really helpful read on this. The shoulder lanes seem to be 4 meters wide, which will be very handy, dare I say MOST handy, for regular car breakdowns and stalled trucks, so main traffic lanes won't get jammed up. This is a huge problem on the main section of the Highway 1 through Burnaby, the tiny shoulders.

[Metro-One]

An actual half decent project. The 264 interchange looks great and those shoulders bus lanes aren’t as pathetic as those on the 99.

Also nice to see the scope of the full project being expanded out to Chilliwack.

So overall it seems that the #1 will be a decent highway from the Cassiar Tunnel to Chilliwack.

Also happy that the climbing lanes have been retained.

Just too bad the 99 gets shortchanged so much.

[Klazu]

Aren't we still losing a climbing lane in Phase 2? I thought the current EB climbing lane would be the third lane but has that been changed and a fourt lane will indeed be constructed as part of the current phase?

[Lexus]

The biggest takeaway for me is:

Did you know?
The naming of an underpass or an overpass depends on
what the Highway does in relation to the local road.
UNDERPASS:
The Highway goes under the local road structure
OVERPASS :
The Highway structure goes over the local road structure

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Aren't we still losing a climbing lane in Phase 2? I thought the current EB climbing lane would be the third lane but has that been changed and a fourt lane will indeed be constructed as part of the current phase?

I’m not sure if that was ever finalized, publicly at least. If I remember correctly the plan was always to end up with 4 lanes but to initially have 3 (converting one existing to HOV) so there isn’t a sudden drop from 4 to 2 before 264th. With construction of phases 2 and 3 so close together I’m guessing that they build the 4th lane from the start. We’ll need to see if that information is released when the contract goes to tender this year for the Phase 2 road widening.

[teriyaki]

First I've seen of a diverging diamond interchange in BC. Will this be the first one constructed in this province?

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by teriyaki

First I've seen of a diverging diamond interchange in BC. Will this be the first one constructed in this province?

From earlier on this page...

Originally Posted by madog222

If built today it would be the fourth, though it will definitely be the first in BC. The others are in Calgary, Regina, and Niagara, ON.
It will be Canada's first diverging diamond with bike lanes.

[madog222]

Render of the 264th interchange. Infrastructure BC lists anticipated completion for 2028.


Image from Province of BC https://www.infrastructurebc.com/project...hway-1-264th-street-interchange-project/

[Klazu]

Lane markings on the main highway sure are confusing.

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by madog222

Render of the 264th interchange. Infrastructure BC lists anticipated completion for 2028.


Image from Province of BC https://www.infrastructurebc.com/project...hway-1-264th-street-interchange-project/

Nice looking render . Wonder if there's any plans at all to 4 lane highway 13 from the border to highway 1. It'd be nice to get that done as well as this project at the same time so they mesh together.

[sweetnhappy]

Wow, I didn't even notice the flyover on-ramps until seeing the render. Guess it's good they got rid of highway 1 on-ramp left turns at the main intersections (except for buses at the north one).

[Metro-One]

That’s a well designed interchange, good to see.

[osirisboy]

Is there a rendering of just south of this image

[waves]

Originally Posted by flipper316

Nice looking render . Wonder if there's any plans at all to 4 lane highway 13 from the border to highway 1. It'd be nice to get that done as well as this project at the same time so they mesh together.

36km of Freeway total from i5 to Hwy 1 and only 11km from Hwy 1 to the border. I wonder how much such a project would cost? Seems like such a small distance.

[sweetnhappy]

Originally Posted by waves

36km of Freeway total from i5 to Hwy 1 and only 11km from Hwy 1 to the border. I wonder how much such a project would cost? Seems like such a small distance.

It's more like 9.7 km from the current southern intersection (56 Ave and Hwy 13) to the already 4 lane'd portion at the curve (where 264th Street splits – the 264th Street Diversion). Not cheap either way, I would imagine.

But I would think upgrading to 4 lanes would be a higher priority for Hwy 11 in Abbotsford because that is a much shorter distance (~2.2 km from the McConnell Road intersection to the road split at 2nd Ave) and the Huntingdon–Sumas border crossing is open 24/7.

Not sure why mention of I-5 is relevant – if you're referring to the WA-539, it's only 4 lanes south of the Birch Bay Lynden Road/Kok Road intersection in Lynden (at least according to Google satellite view). So Washington would still have to 4 lane ~7.3 km of their own highway.

[Jimbo604]

Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer: NDP ditch election promise on Hwy. 1 widening
Opinion: Party promised widening of clogged artery by 2026, but lately isn't offering any timelines
Published Aug 15, 2023

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columni...ditch-election-promise-on-hwy-1-widening

VICTORIA — The New Democrats have backed away from their election promise to widen heavily congested Highway 1 from Langley into Abbotsford by 2026.

The revised plan, posted earlier this month, broke up the project into smaller pieces and abandoned the target of 2026 for completion of any part of it.

NDP cabinet minister Dan Coulter then told a reporter that a significant stretch of the widening project won’t be completed “until 2034-35.”

The minister’s admission — soon disavowed by his own ministry — provoked a backlash, including in his own Fraser Valley constituency.
...

[giallo]

I can't believe what a boondoggle this stretch of Hwy 1 has become. It's bizarre how one of the most important roads in the entire province has become this political hot potato. It should be a bipartisan issue, and priority number one for the province. Like, an 'all hands on deck' situation. Saying that a significant portion won't be complete until 2035 is embarrassing.

It's SEVERELY under built, and has become an economic burden. The road is shared between Fraser Valley commuters, transport trucks and tourists ie. people that can't use/don't have access to any sort of alternative transportation. It's jammed all of the time, and has thousands of cars sitting idle, spewing exhaust into the air. It's also dangerous to have so many cars packed along two lanes for the majority of its length in the valley. God help you if there's been an accident. You'll be stuck for an hour or more.

That stretch of road between Chilliwack and Langley was expanded in 1965. Just think about how ridiculous that is. The population has quadrupled since then.

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by giallo

I can't believe what a boondoggle this stretch of Hwy 1 has become. It's bizarre how one of the most important roads in the entire province has become this political hot potato. It should be a bipartisan issue, and priority number one for the province. Like, an 'all hands on deck' situation. Saying that a significant portion won't be complete until 2035 is embarrassing.

It's SEVERELY under built, and has become an economic burden. The road is shared between Fraser Valley commuters, transport trucks and tourists ie. people that can't use/don't have access to any sort of alternative transportation. It's jammed all of the time, and has thousands of cars sitting idle, spewing exhaust into the air. It's also dangerous to have so many cars packed along two lanes for the majority of its length in the valley. God help you if there's been an accident. You'll be stuck for an hour or more.

That stretch of road between Chilliwack and Langley was expanded in 1965. Just think about how ridiculous that is. The population has quadrupled since then.

Every level of government has a hand in this project. The Liberals quietly deleted 10 km from the Port Mann project. So then you lose a few years while they try and find money. NDP start put then you have the rebuild cost of several un planned disasters related to flooding.

Then you add in the fact the RR has a rightaway that is in the middle of it. The NDP should have did a better job of tendering this project. Part are issues related to the CBA but others are just the times we are in

[giallo]

^I agree. It's every level of government that failed this highway early on. It should have been twinned all the way to Abbotsford (at least) when they were rebuilding the Port Mann Bridge, but like so much in this province, it was scaled down, and now we're left with a really poor piece of infrastructure.

I just drove through the Hwy 1 gauntlet last Sunday, so I'm probably feeling a little extra testy after that predictably awful experience.