A worker flattens the road surface on the north lanes along a stretch of Fraser Highway west of 216 Street where concrete barriers were installed in February and now must be modified, delaying completion.

A worker flattens the road surface on the north lanes along a stretch of Fraser Highway west of 216 Street where concrete barriers were installed in February and now must be modified, delaying completion.

Fraser Highway widening faces delays

Modifications to a retaining wall on the north side of Fraser Highway have delayed the completion of the road widening project

Modifications to a retaining wall on the north side of Fraser Highway have delayed the completion of the road widening project from the Langley City border at Old Yale Road to just west of 216 Street.

Paul Cordeiro, the Township’s manager of transportation engineering, said that the contractor for the retaining wall has had to undertake modifications after it had already been erected.

Adding to the delay is the Township’s decision to replace two culverts, and several days of construction have been lost because of poor weather, Cordeiro said.

Although the pedestrian underpass was paved in time for the Langley Walk in early May, lighting still needs to be installed.

Paving and the installation of concrete barriers dividing the eastbound and westbound lanes are likely to occur during the first two weeks of July.

The project was initially scheduled to be finished by the end of this month. It will now be “substantially” complete by the middle of July, Cordeiro said.

When the widened section of Fraser Highway is complete, it will include a shared bicycle and pedestrian pathway along the south side of Fraser Highway. This path, reached by the sidewalk on the south side of Fraser Highway, will lead walkers to the upgraded pedestrian underpass which was once used as a passageway for cows to travel under the road from one pasture to another.

The total cost of the project is $4.2 million, half of which is funded by TransLink.

It’s not the last of road improvement projects for Fraser Highway. The Township is currently in the design stage to widen the road between 228 Street and the 23500 block.

Langley Times