Widening of Langley’s 208th Street moves forward

Plans to widen 208th Street in Willoughby moved forward at Langley Township council this month.

On Monday, May 1, council approved $1.3 million for portions of the work to widen the Willoughby Connector, and for the widening of 208th Street and the 212th Connector.

The largest portion of the funding, $810,000, will go towards the Willoughby Connector widening. Willoughby connector links 208th Street south of 68th Street to 64th Avenue.

The money will be used for environmental compensation work, relocating utilities such as electrical wiring, and land purchases along the corridor.

The remaining $500,000 is for engineering design, traffic studies, and other consulting work for the early phases of widening 208th Street between 68th Street north to 76th Avenue, and for the 212th Connector between 208th Street and 77A Avenue.

The bulk of the money will come from development cost charges (DCCs) which are paid by developers.

When the Willowbrook connector has been widened, it will include protected bike lanes, new pedestrian crossing sand traffic signals, a multi-use path on the west side and a sidewalk on the east side, four new bus stops, and the intersection at 64th Avenue will be expanded to have dual left turn lanes, to meet future traffic demands.

“This is just the first step in the process,” said Roeland Zwaag, director of engineering.

Widening 208th Street has been a longtime problem for the Township.

For years, road-widening in Willoughby has taken place by individual developers. This means that much of the northern portion of 208th Street, between 76th Avenue and the overpass to Walnut Grove, has been widened. But the widening has taken place haphazardly as each piece of property has been developed.

Some areas, where development has been stalled, narrow to one lane running north or south even as major condo projects are built next door or across the street. The road widens and narrows between two, three, and four lanes at various places.

Once this phase of work is done, Township council is expected to receive an update from engineering staff.

PREVIOUSLY: Plans to widen 208th Street get another look from Langley Township council