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Langley Township wants end to street racing in Gloucester Estates

Aldergrove industrial park has been drawing illicit speeders
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Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward called for a report on traffic calming in an area popular with street racers.

New traffic calming measures could cut down on street racing at a major Aldergrove-area industrial park, but they'll have to be designed to avoid interfering with the hundreds of trucks that use the area.

Langley Township council voted unanimously to look into anti-street-racing measures for Gloucester Industrial Estates at its Monday, Sept. 23 meeting.

The motion, from Mayor Eric Woodward, calls for a report on options for traffic calming and other anti-racing measures, but with minimal disruption to larger trucks. The areas of 272 Street, 275 Street, and Gloucester Way are to be a particular focus of the report.

Senior Township staff noted that there have been a number of complaints of street racing in the area. Gloucester features some long, broad streets, which have relatively little ordinary traffic at night.

However, some businesses in the area do operate late at night or even 24 hours a day.

"There have been a number of close calls that I've personally heard of from the businesses there," said Woodward.

Coun. Tim Baillie noted that it's also a public safety and police safety issue when there are street races.

There can be hundreds of people attending street races, and just one or two RCMP officers responding to the scene he said. There have been confrontations in the past.

Coun. Misty Van Popta raised the question of whether there should be some legitimate venue for this kind of driving. She noted these incidents seem to move back and forth between Gloucester in Langley and Campell Heights in Surrey, or get pushed to other communities.

"We do need to address it somehow, and just shoving them from one municipality to another isn't necessarily addressing it," she said.

The report will be presented to council at a future meeting.

Langley has had issues with street racing and dangerous, high-speed driving in the past. Unsanctioned events the night before the Lagnley Good Times Cruise-In have resulted in police putting large amounts of resources into cracking down, including blocking off most of Industrial Avenue in Langley City.

Areas such as Zero Avenue in South Langley and Allard Crescent northwest of Fort Langley have also drawn street racers, and at various times speed bumps or raised intersections have been installed to deter the would-be racers.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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