Small Changes in Langley City Are Making Big Improvements for Walking

One of the keys to supporting a healthy community and giving people travel choices on how they get around is to ensure that walking is safe and inviting.

People need safer crosswalks, sidewalks/paths separated from high-speed traffic, and a tight network of connectivity for walking to be safe and inviting.

At 10 square kilometres, Langey City should be a walkable community, but there are some gaps in our walking network. Over the years, these gaps have been slowly closing.

I wanted to share examples of recent projects that are helping complete the walking network.

The first example is an enhanced crosswalk at Grade Crescent, near the entrance to Sendall Gardens, and a renewed walkway that connects up to Simonds Elementary.

New crosswalk under construction at Grade Crescent at Sendall Gardens entrance.

While not shown in the picture, the City will also be installing crosswalk "flashers" shortly for this enhanced crosswalk.

New paved pathway between Grade Crescent and 48th Avenue.

Paved path to connect to Simonds Elementary along 48th Avenue.

This project will make crossing Grade Crescent safer. It will also make walking more convenient as the recently paved pathway means that people do not have to walk 5 minutes out of their way via 201 Street to make the same journey between Sendall Gardens and Simonds Elementary.

The next project I wanted to highlight was repaving the railway crossing on Duncan Way under the 204th Street overpass. This crossing was in rough shape. I remember some people who use electric wheelchairs telling me that instead of going straight down 203rd Street to Duncan Way to access the pedestrian overpass, they had to go out of their way via Glover Road, adding 15 minutes to their one-way trip.

Newly paved railway crossing along Duncan Way.

Most people will only walk 10-15 minutes before deciding to drive, so walking connects must be direct.

In some parts of our community, there are simply no sidewalks. The Langley Bypass area is short on sidewalks. I've had to walk on the shoulder of 62nd Avenue. This doesn't feel safe or inviting. The City is filling in the gap of the missing sidewalk along 62nd Avenue near 200th Street.

New section of sidewalk along 62nd Avenue near 200th Street.

These are only a small sample of projects that are improving walking in our community. More projects are in the works that will continue to enhance our walking network.