Wednesday, November 28, 2012

New Downtown Langley and Willowbrook Transit Exchanges, plus mall redevelopment

TransLink is hosting a week of public consultations (started yesterday) as part of phase 2 of a 4 phase design process for proposed new transit exchanges in both Downtown Langley and the Willowbrook Mall area. The new transit exchanges will hopefully support improved transit accessibility in both areas which are part of the larger Langley Regional Town Centre as per Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy. At the current phase, TransLink is looking at three options for both sites which you can see below.

Proposed Bus Mall Option for Downtown Langley

Proposed Off-Street Option for Downtown Langley

Proposed On-street Option for Downtown Langley

Proposed Bus Mall Option for Willowbrook Mall Area

Proposed Off-Street Option for Willowbrook Mall Area

Two Proposed On-Street Options for Willowbrook Mall Area

I prefer the on-street options which will better integrate with the community and do not like the off-street options which will create nothing but more parking lots.

The potential big changes for Downtown Langley will be the relocation of the bus exchange from Logan Avenue/Glover Road to 203rd Street/Fraser Highway, the creation of a new 203 A Street, and the extension of Industrial Avenue.

For the Willowbrook Mall area, besides getting a transit exchange around Willowbrook Drive/Fraser Highway, it looks like the mall has some big plans to redevelop into a mixed-use town centre. This is the most exciting bit of news and if the redevelopment proceeds will have a profound positive effect on the livability of Langley. Page 14 of TransLink’s Public Information Boards document has more information on the proposed mixed-use town centre and other information about the proposed new transit exchanges.

Example of potential redevelopment of Willowbrook Mall site.

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