Help shape the Fraser Highway One-Way redesign

Fraser Highway was one of the first highways in our region, following the path of the Yale wagon road, connecting New Westminster to the interior of the province. Where the Fraser Highway One-Way begins has always been a significant intersection. It provided a connection to Fort Langley and the Hudson’s Bay Company Farm. All this to says, there are some really old pieces of infrastructure underneath Fraser Highway.

Langley City will be renewing the underground infrastructure such as water and sewer lines on the section of Fraser Highway between 204 Street and 206 Street. Because of the legacy of Fraser Highway, this whole section of road must be dug-up for the renewal. This makes it an ideal time to reimage the One-Way section which is the heart of our community.

The City is currently seeking ideas and feedback on what people would like to see for the new One-Way. At Community Day this weekend, I stopped by a booth that the project team setup to gather people’s thoughts.

People had the chance to indicate what objectives were priorities for them. Select image to enlarge.

One of the ways that the project team gathered input was by asking people to drop marbles into jars for objectives that they would like to see the One-Way redesign achieve. One of the big things that I noticed was that creating a great outdoor space, such as by incorporating room for patios and trees in the public ream, was important for the people who took part in the exercise.

Gather public feedback about the Fraser Highway One-Way redesign at Community Day. Select image to enlarge.

People were also asked to place “leafs” on a tree to let the project team know what they needed to keep in mind. Again, there were many comments about creating a pedestrian-focused, green street that serves as a gather place. Providing a nightlife was also a recurring theme on the “leafs” which is something that we critically need in Downtown. Having more eyes and ears on the street will reduce negative activity in the evening, and help build a stronger sense of community.

Community Day wasn’t the last day to provide input, you can also share your ideas for the One-Way by completing an online survey which will be up until July 16. If you haven’t already, please consider taking some time to complete this survey.

Launch the Survey

As a note, the City is working with BC Hydro to see what would be involved to get the utility poles removed from the One-Way. If all goes well, the project could start construction next year.