A plan that would speed up the widening of congested 208 street in Langley will see the Township directly fund work on two sections where the road runs next to protected farmland and where it crosses the freeway.
Private developers have been funding the widening work on 208 a piece at a time as they build new housing along the congested Willoughby route, but that strategy can't be applied to the construction of a second two-lane overpass across Highway 1, or to the Willowbrook connector between 64 Avenue and 68 Avenue that runs next to the Agricultural Land Reserve.
With approval of the new plan by council, work on those two sections could begin within three years.
The new overpass, currently being designed by engineering staff, will be considered for funding in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.
The Willowbrook connector will be considered for the 2017 budget.
The current approach of using private builders to widen the rest of 208 will be reviewed in three years.
By then, the widening of 208 Street from 76 Avenue to Highway 1 should be completed.
Widening 208 between 72 and 76 Avenues is expected to take five or more years.
The road will become four lanes from Willowbrook to Highway 1, going to six lanes where traffic is expected to be especially heavy.
The road currently handles 15,000 to 22,000 vehicles a day, close to the limit of 25,000 for a two-lane road.
The Sept. 14 vote to endorse the plan was unanimous (with councillor David Davis absent).
Note: a previous Times report incorrectly suggested the entire plan would be fast-tracked by direct funding through DCCs.