No rush on one-way redo, Langley City merchants told

A planned overhaul of Langley City’s one-way won’t happen for at least a year, and not until businesses on the street have been consulted, Mayor Nathan Pachal promised a delegation at Monday’s council meeting, Jan. 16.

“The earliest would be some time in 2024. And before we get there, we need to consult the businesses,” Pachal said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done before even a piece of dirt is turned,” Pachal told David Stingl, owner of the Everything But Diamonds store.

Stingl brought a petition from about a dozen businesses asking for a delay in the proposed overhaul.

He said businesses were taken aback to learn in late November, in a letter from the Downtown Langley Business Association, that the project would be included in City budget planning for the coming year.

Merchants are “deeply concerned” that the project would close the one-way to traffic and “drastically cripple’ businesses still struggling to recover, Stingl told council.

“We just barely survived a world-wide pandemic with COVID,” Stingl remarked.

Pachal reiterated the project would not be pushed through without input from merchants.

READ ALSO: Postpone One-Way overhaul, Langley City urged

“Businesses will 100 per cent be consulted before a single piece of construction equipment moves in,” Pachal said, adding the advisory in November was “just to give people a heads-up that this is coming, potentially, in a year from now.”

Staff don’t plan to put the project to tender until this fall, council was told.

Following the meeting, Stingl told the Langley Advance Times he was “hopeful.”

City plans for the replacement of aging sewer and water lines underneath the one-way include upgrades to the streetscape once the underground work is completed.

Previous consultation with residents and businesses along the one-way on Fraser Highway – between 204th and 206th Streets found a majority of respondents favoured a design with angled parking on both sides, trees clustered at key locations, wider sidewalks, and increased patio space.

READ ALSO: New trees in Langley City’s McBurney Plaza had to be replaced because support straps were not removed