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Plan for 216 Street Interchange 'isn't new' says mayor

Township mayor Jack Froese reveals documentation that shows 216 Street Interchange has been in the works since the 1980s
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Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese.

As members of Township council await a staff report addressing the concerns of a group of Walnut Grove residents on the new 216 Street Interchange, Coun. Kim Richter has asked that more information be added.

On Monday afternoon, Richter’s motion passed by a 5-4 vote to have staff discuss the possible removal of truck traffic along the northern portion of 216 Street in upcoming consultations with the provincial Ministry of Transportation.

“I can certainly appreciate their (the residents) frustration with losing, or the fear of losing, the very peaceful and quiet neighbourhood that they have right now,” Richter said, referring to the Forest Hills subdivision at 216 Street and 88 Avenue.

“When they bought in there, they never knew that there was going to be truck traffic right in their backyards. And in order to widen this road, all of the foliage is going to have to be taken down, and I just think that there’s better ways that we can work around this. And I understand the need to have truck traffic going south on 216 Street, but I don’t understand the need for having truck traffic go north on 216 Street.”

Among the residents’ concerns about noise, pollution and safety for children at two nearby schools, some opponents of the $59 million project also say the interchange represents an alteration of the original plan that would have run the highway off-ramp through 217A Street, providing a buffer for the residential neighbourhood.

However, Mayor Jack Froese said in the research he has conducted so far, he has been unable to find any council approved documentation stating that 217A was going to be the location.

The Walnut Grove Community Plan was adopted in 1979, and within that, the “Stage 3” neighbourhood plan, which includes the Forest Hills area in question, clearly mentions a future 216 Street Interchange, Froese said.

“The lands in Neighbourhood 4 are not within a half mile radius of an existing point of access to Highway 401, so Ministry of Highways approval should not be required. The Ministry is, however, contemplating plans for a possible future connection at 216 Street,” Froese read aloud from the document, which was adopted by council on July 14, 1986.

“This proposal has been accommodated in the Land Use Plan in the form of an increased width for the 216 Street right-of-way, as well as land being reserved for the proposed access routes.”

In 2009, Froese added, council of the day approved the master transportation plan, which includes a future interchange at 216 Street (see PDF below).

“I just want to point out, this isn’t new, there is a history," Froese said.

“It goes back as far as 1986 that I could find some documentation, and there’s other documentation where the 216 Interchange has been contemplated, not only by the Ministry of Transportation, but Township council and staff have also addressed that the ministry was planning to put an interchange there.

“And how do we address our transportation needs with the fact that an interchange would be coming there? The transportation master plan was developed with that in mind.”

Later in the discussion, it was also clarified that 216 Street, between 88 Avenue and 96 Avenue, is currently a designated a truck route, and the area between 88 Avenue and Highway 1, is designated as a future truck route. Both 96 Avenue and 88 Avenue west of 216 Street are designated as truck routes as well.

A complete report from staff is expected to be released later this fall.

As part of the B.C. on the Move Transportation Plan, the 216 Street project includes building a new four-lane interchange with left-hand turn lanes to access the freeway, and widening Highway 1 between 202 Street and 216 Street from four lanes to six. It also calls for pedestrian and cycling access across the overpass, and an extension of HOV ramps to and from 202 Street.

 

Township agenda Oct. 19 2009