A major route in rural Langley will be closed for several months this fall due to safety upgrades needed at rail crossings.
Construction work will shut down 72nd Avenue west of 240th Street, where the road crosses a rail line at the top of a steep incline.
A contractor has been chosen and early work is already underway, but the major construction and closure is expected to happen after Labour Day, said Paul Cordeiro, manager of transportation engineering for Langley Township.
The entire slope is being reconstructed, with parts of the road raised by four to five meters to the west of the crossing, Cordeiro said.
“It’ll still be steep,” he said, but some vehicles have actually bottomed out on the crossing itself, and the road work will fix that issue.
Cordeiro expects the closure to last from early September through to the end of November, but timing is dependent on weather and on work with BC Hydro and Telus to move utility lines as well.
Langley Township is in the midst of a $6.3 million program of rail crossing upgrades, which must be complete by 2021.
New Transport Canada safety rules require the changes, which are coming at a number of crossings.
Other upgrades expected in the near future include:
• Work with Southern Rail on a crossing at 272nd Street in the Gloucester Industrial Park is also expected to take place this year, but won’t fully block the road. The work is expected to include new crossbars and signal lights.
• Upgrades to the crossings at Mavis, Glover, and Billy Brown Road in Fort Langley are likely to take place in 2019. CN Rail has applied for a federal grant for part of the work, which includes widened crossings, and new warning signals.
