Langley City Safe Streets Survey Results

During the holidays, I asked folks in Langley City to complete a survey about their opinions on changes to the road network in our community, and what they would like to see in the future.

Over two hundred responses were received from a geographically-representative sample of our community. I should note that age, income, and other demographics were not factored into the results.

Option A

I asked people, considering the following image, where would they support a similar street design?

Option A. Select image to enlarge. Source: https://streetmix.net/-/558856

The clear majority of survey respondents supported this design. I have provided the results based on the whole community, and by whether respondents lived in the more single-family South of the Nicomekl, or higher-density North of Nicomekl.

Option A: All Langley City. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for all survey respondents were:
Fraser Highway
206th Street, Near Douglas Park
Grade Crescent
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street

Option A: South of Nicomekl. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for survey respondents living South of the Nicomekl were:
Grade Crescent
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street
Fraser Highway
206th Street, Near Douglas Park

Option A: North of Nicomekl. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for survey respondents living North of the Nicomekl were:
Fraser Highway
206th Street, Near Douglas Park
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street
Glover Road, South of the Langley Bypass

Option B

I asked people, considering the following image, where would they support a similar street design?

Option B. Select image to enlarge. Source: Global Street Design Guide

Again, the clear majority of survey respondents supported this design. I have provided the results based on the whole community, and by whether respondents lived in the more single-family South of the Nicomekl, or higher-density North of Nicomekl.

Option B: All Langley City. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for all survey respondents were:
Fraser Highway
206th Street, Near Douglas Park
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street
Glover Road, South of the Langley Bypass

Option B: South of Nicomekl. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for survey respondents living South of the Nicomekl were:
Fraser Highway
Glover Road, South of the Langley Bypass
Grade Crescent
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street

Option B: North of Nicomekl. Select chart to enlarge.

The top four choices for survey respondents living North of the Nicomekl were:
Fraser Highway
206th Street, Near Douglas Park
56th Avenue, West of 200th Street
Glover Road, South of the Langley Bypass

Other Results

Example walkway in Langley City. Select image to enlarge.

One of the other questions asked was would you support enhancing lighting in walkways? The near universal response was yes.

I also asked people to think about the changes made on 203rd Street and 53rd Avenue. Two things stood out. People preferred sidewalk-level bike lanes over on-street bike lanes. People also provided suggestions on ways that designs could be improved.

The area of concern for people who completed the survey was around road narrowing. There were two broad areas of concern: safety and congestion.

Some of the people who responded to the survey were concerned that the changes made would lead to more congestion. On 203rd Street, traffic volume could increase by more than 100% during the busiest times of day without causing congestion. On 53rd Avenue, traffic could increase by 200% during the busiest times of day without causing congestion based on recent traffic counts.

While it is counterintuitive, narrower urban roads are safer than wider urban roads. Early last year, I posted about research done in Toronto that validates this. I’ve also included a video which further explains why this is the case.

Thanks again to everyone that took time to complete the survey.