A $19.5 million contract for the replacement of the collision-battered Glover Road Overpass has been awarded to a Langley construction firm.
Tybo Contracting will take on the reconstruction of the Highway One overpass, which connects the Milner area with Fort Langley across the highway.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, preparatory work is to begin this fall, with major construction starting in early 2023. The new overpass is to be finished in the summer of 2024.
The overpass reconstruction is part of the project to widen Highway One to six lanes – three in each direction – from 216th Street to 264th Street. The new lanes will be for HOV, electric vehicles, and transit vehicles.
The overpass itself will be upgraded as part of the reconstruction, including three-metre-wide multi-use pathways on either side of the crossing and its approaches.
At present, there is a single sidewalk on the east side of the overpass for pedestrians, and no bike lanes.
However, one of the most important parts of the project will be that the new crossing will be higher than the current structure.
The Glover Road Overpass is lower than the major overpasses at 200th Street and 216th.
Drivers of over-height loads heading east have slammed into it repeatedly over the years, several times damaging the overpass so badly that it required repairs. The 232nd Street and 192nd Street overpasses have also been hit.
Multiple signs now warn drivers of the upcoming issue with the overpass’s height, but the most recent crash was just this July.
It was the eighth impact with an overpass in the region in 12 months. Several of those were in Langley.
All sorts of overheight cargo has slammed into the overpass and its neighbouring spans, including construction machinery on flatbed trailers, cargo containers, and the cherry picker on a truck.
The new crossing will be at the same place as the old one, which means the overpass will have to be shut down for some time during the construction.
The Ministry said the crossing will close in early 2023, with a detour that is estimated to add about five minutes of travel time for local commuters. The detour will last for just over a year, until the new crossing opens.
The Glover Overpass project is the first in a series that will be awarded to contractors in the near future, including replacing the 232nd Street overpass, replacing a nearby railway overpass, and widening the highway itself.
The entire highway widening and upgrade project from 216th to 264th has a $345 million budget, with $96.05 million from the federal government, $225.58 million from the province, and $23.37 million from the Township.
READ MORE: Eight and counting – another Langley overpass hit by a truck
READ MORE: Highway 1 lane re-opens 12 hours after vehicle fails to clear Langley overpass
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