It was an all-too familiar sound for David Siemens, who was at his home near Highway 1 in Langley on Family Day, Feb. 19.
“Tires screeching, and a couple of big bangs, and then everything went quiet,” Siemens described.
Four vehicles, including a semi-trailer truck, had crashed westbound on Hwy. 1 between the 232nd and 248th overpasses.
RCMP, ambulance, and Langley Township fire crews attended.
B.C. Emergency Health Services reported receiving a call at 11:19 a.m. “regarding a motor vehicle incident on Highway 1 near the 232nd Street exit. Two ambulances responded to the scene. No patients required transport to hospital.”
RCMP said no serious injuries were reported.
Traffic was restricted to one lane, backing up drivers as far as the Bradner Road Overpass for about an hour, while fire crews cleared debris and fluid from the highway, and tow trucks removed the damaged vehicles.
Siemens said it’s become a regular occurrence.
“This is almost on a daily basis,” Siemens told the Langley Advance Times.
ICBC stats show the crash count along the stretch of Hwy. 1 that runs through Aldergrove and Langley has doubled over three years, rising from 168 in 2020 to 328 in 2022.
There have been several crashes along the route in February, in addition to the Family Day multiple collision.
READ ALSO: 2 crashes on Highway 1 congest Langley Friday evening
Two unrelated car crashes on the Trans-Canada Highway had parts of Langley and Aldergrove congested Friday evening, Feb. 9.
Around 5 p.m., a single-vehicle crash blocked the Highway 1 on-ramp off 200th Street after a trailer tire blowout flipped a dump truck onto its side.
Later at about 8 p.m., a second crash on Highway 1 occurred just before 264th Street in Aldergrove, blocking the westbound left lane several hours.
Thursday morning, Feb. 15, multi-vehicle collisions had the 216th Street on-ramp in Langley backed up between between 7:30 and 8 a.m Thursday morning, Feb. 15, after one crash led to another a few minutes later.
READ ALSO: 3 separate multi-vehicle collisions congest Langley overpass
It’s estimated 80,000 motorists use the highway between Langley and Abbotsford, and through the Sumas Prairie into Chilliwack every day.
Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program to widen the highway and build new overpasses is underway, but Siemens is doubtful it will make much difference.
“It’s just going to move the problem further down,” Siemens predicted.
