The $51 million Mufford overpass project in Langley has entered its next phase.
A construction update issued on behalf of the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor (RBRC) program said crews have finished widening Mufford Crescent to accommodate a detour and the future four-lane road that is part of the new rail overpass project.
Pavement has been laid.
Pile-driving is underway and workers are installing the metal reinforcing rods for the foundations.
The Mufford project is part of a $307 million plan to build eight overpasses and one railway siding along the 70-km stretch that connects Roberts Bank, which contains Canada’s largest container port (Deltaport) and coal terminal (Westshore) to the North American railway network.
Currently, the tracks carry up to 18 trains per day, many of them more than two kilometres long and that traffic is expected to increase to 28 to 38 trains a day by 2021.
Once completed, the new four‐lane overpass will run northeast of the existing Mufford Crescent crossing carrying vehicles above the railroad and Glover Road.
About half of the money for Mufford, $24 million, comes from TransLink.
The rest come from the province ( $12.5 million), the Township of Langley ($9.3 million), the federal government ($3.1 million) and Port Metro Vancouver ($2.1 million).
The Langley project will include a high-tech rail crossing information system using electronic billboards to alert drivers to avoid level crossings and re-route to the overpass when a train is passing through.