Best Way to Langley

There has been much talk about the best route for rapid transit from Surrey to Langley. Obviously, I believe that using the old Interurban corridor from Surrey to Langley makes the most sense. The other options are using Fraser Highway or the Trans-Canada Highway.


There are a few things to remember when building a community rail line; the most important being that is serves areas where people live and work. Density is also important. With that in mind lets compare the three options.


On Density:

Legend for the Map: Solid Red Line is the Interurban Line, Dotted-Red Line is a possible future alignment of the Interurban Line, Circles are the growth areas the Interurban Line goes through, Squares are the current built-up areas the Interurban Line goes through, Arrows are areas that should be connected to the Interurban Line and other rapid transit lines via Streetcar, BRT, of frequent bus. - From MoT

-The Trans-Canada Highway alignment serves the least amount of people and is the lowest density corridor.

-The Fraser Highway alignment serves some dense areas, but only modest density increases are expected in the next 20 years.

-The Interurban alignment serves the most dense areas and will see the most growth compared to the other two alignments.


On Live and Work:

-The Trans-Canada alignment would serve some residential areas in Surrey and Langley, and the industrial areas at the 200th Street interchange.

-The Fraser Highway options would serve a large amount or residential areas, but would only service the few strip malls on Fraser Highway. It would also serve the major industrial and commercial areas in the Langley Regional Centre.

-The Interurban alignment would serve a larger amount of residential areas in Surrey and Langley, major commercial and industrial areas around Newton and Langley, and Kwantlen University. The Interurban alignment also has the advantage of servicing already walkable communities.


I’m am certain that a ridership study, that is focused on moving people within the South Fraser, will prove that the Interurban alignment from Surrey to the Langley Regional Centre would attract the most ridership. Now the wait for the report…