Editor:
I was glad to see your recent article about the improvements underway and in the works for 32 Avenue; these are definitely needed.
And thanks to your reference to the Surrey engineering department’s 10-year plan, I was able to look through that plan to see what the city has planned for other roadways in our area which are also often gridlocked.
In particular, I was hoping to find that the city has plans for widening 16 Avenue between Highway 99 and 200 Street, from its current two lanes. I read through the 36 pages of the plan’s transportation system section, and I was very surprised there was no plan for any improvements to 16th, even though the volume of traffic along it has been increasing hugely over the past few years.
Also, (a) it’s becoming more and more of a truck route, and (b) there are many plans for townhouses and other residences to be built along this route, so the situation will only get worse in the next few years.
The 10-year plan’s Program 1002 – Arterial Widening Growth states that “related improvements are determined from a process that includes using traffic model projections, growth trends due to development in NCP areas, and where vehicle volumes exceed capacity.
“Prioritization of projects is based on factors that include improving the operational safety of the corridor and introducing new or enhanced multi-modal facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users. The typical five-lane road configuration consists of two travel lanes in either direction, with left-turn bays at intersections, cycling infrastructure, sidewalks, bus stops, street tree boulevards and streetlighting.”
Given the trees alongside most of this eastern stretch of 16 Avenue, it may not need street tree boulevards and streetlighting, but it sure needs widening due to “growth trends” and since current and future “vehicle volumes exceed capacity.”
What’s wrong with our city, that they haven’t planned to widen 16th in this way? Please, Surrey engineers, develop and implement a plan to widen 16th in the next couple of years – before 2025; it can’t wait until 2030 – to accommodate 16th’s current and future traffic volumes!
Geoff Dean, Surrey
