Merry Christmas

Today is my final post of the year; I will be taking a break from blogging until January 2, 2019. I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.

Video: Creating Safer Intersections in Langley City

Sometimes I get asked similar questions by multiple people about a particular topic. While I do write blog posts about these topics, not everyone has the time or desire to read them. Based on the reception of the videos I posted for the election campaign, I thought I would start a video series to provide another medium to answer these questions.

The first video is about design changes to intersections in Langley City, and how those changes support reducing collisions, injuries, and fatalities.

Province’s new CleanBC plan promises new investments in walking and cycling

Earlier this month, the provincial government released its CleanBC plan. This plan outlines how the provincial government plans to reach its 2030 greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction targets.

One of the largest sources of GHGs is transportation. While the CleanBC plan outlines how the province plans to move towards a zero-emission future for automobiles, it also contains a section about the important role of active transportation in reducing GHGs and giving people a way on out congestion.

On page 25 of the report it states that “in 2019, the Province will establish an active transportation strategy with measures to support new infrastructure, education and incentive programs, and safety improvements for people walking, cycling and using other kinds of active transportation.”

The authors of the report note that currently the province invests just $1.50 per people on active transportation (walking and cycling), and that places like Denmark and New Zealand invest $34 and $24 per person respectively. The plan goes on to say that “lessons learned in these leading jurisdictions will help to inform the new B.C. strategy.”

Combined with the TransLink 10-Year Vision, significant funding is becoming available for walking and cycling infrastructure.

A family using the year-old bike lanes on 53rd Avenue this summer. Select image to enlarge.

In Langley City, we have been successful in getting grants from both TransLink and the provincial government to build cycling infrastructure on 203rd Street and 53rd Avenue. We also will be receiving funding from TransLink over the next few years to implement $1.9 million in cycling infrastructure on Glover Road and $2.2 million in cycling infrastructure on the 208th Street Causeway.

We’ve also received funding to improve walking in our community from TransLink for projects such as the new path on Duncan Way.

With the provincial government now doubling down on investing in active transportation options, Langley City will be in a good position to take advantage of that funding.

Our community is 10 square kilometres which is the perfect size for providing active transportation options. Within our community, if we continue to invest in safe and comfortable walk and cycling infrastructure, people will have real transportation choices. When traveling outside of our community, people will be able to take high-quality transit.

6% of people use active transportation options as their primary way to get to work in Langley City, and around 7% of people take transit to get to work, based on the latest 2016 census data.

While some people must use a car to get around, there is ample opportunity for increasing the number of cycling and walking trips in Langley City. Doubling the percentage of trips that use transit and active transportation options in our community would help reduce congestion and GHG emissions.

Langley City and Township: A brief history of cooperation

Because of our shared origin, Langley City and Township have a history of working together for the betterment of residents and businesses in both communities. Today, we jointly fund policing, Langley Youth and Family Services*, dog control, emergency management, and search & rescue services. Our fire departments, along with Surrey, have mutual aid agreements, and our local water systems are interconnected.

Because Langley City is surrounded on three sides by the Township, there is also cooperation when it comes to planning for things such as transportation or stormwater management. We even still jointly fund the Douglas Day luncheon.

In the past, we also jointly marketed both communities as a tourist destination.

Last week, I posted about some of the historical documents that are available online about local governments. This is because all Orders in Council, dating back to the beginning of our province, are available online. Another interesting document that I found was from the late fall of 1971.

Langley City and Langley Township both have separate parks and recreation departments today, but for a period, we had a joint recreation commission. Some of the joint projects that both municipalities worked on in the past include the W.C. Blair Pool and McLeod Athletic Park.

The joint recreation commission was long gone by the 21st Century though finding this old document reminded me of my hometown. The City of Vernon and District of Coldstream have had a joint parks and recreation department since before I can remember.

I am not suggesting that Langley needs to have a joint recreation department again, but even shortly after Langley City became its own municipality, there was still room for cooperation. Over the years, that spirit of cooperation has waxed and waned, but it has always remained.

Map of the Langley Regional Town Centre. Select map to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver.

With rail rapid transit on the horizon, and both communities sharing the Langley Regional Town Centre, there will continue to be opportunity in the coming years to work together.

*This organization provides early intervention counselling service in cooperation with the Langley RCMP, the community and families toward preventing child and youth entry into the criminal justice system.