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LETTER: Langley neighbourhood’s development causing headaches for drivers

Long-time resident wants Langley Township to provide better infrastructure
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Large sections of 208th Street are single lane, while sections that are multiple lanes are closed off, a letter writer complains. (Langley Advance Times file)

Dear Editor,

Good morning Mayor Froese, I trust you are well.

I want to advise you of my concerns with your administration’s lack of regard for the Township of Langley’s roads. I have been a resident, and taxpayer of the ToL for 30 years, and these past number of years your failure and inability to provide adequate road infrastructure has been alarming.

You are well into your third term as mayor, and taxpayers of the TOL are not being represented very well by your administration. You seem to have no problem permitting the development of multi-residential housing units, but are not providing roads to allow the tens of thousands of new residents to get where they need to go. Large sections of 208th Street are single lane, while sections that are multiple lanes are closed off. In numerous locations you allow sub-trades to park their vehicles while working on site.

Main arteries like 80th, 82nd and 84th Avenues, which connect to higher volume roadways, are merely single lane at best. Developers are permitted to tear up the streets to connect services to these new developments, and road surfaces are not restored to what taxpayers have paid for. Why is this permitted, why are road surfaces not brought back to pre-construction conditions?

You have failed in your office to provide taxpayers the needed roads to get around the ToL. At peak hours traffic congestion is horrible, and you have clearly show that you do not care. Again developers are free to restrict traffic by blocking roads, fences from job site protrude into travel portions of roads, and bylaws makes no effort into chasing the site superintendents to pull back their construction fences. One only needs to look at the development by Peak on 86th avenue, just across from the Carvolth bus loop to see what I am referring to.

Business in the Willoughby area are not reaching their full potential as residents cannot get to them easily. Only when residences must go, are they forced to get in their car and make the drive. My neighbours and I are feed up with a five- or 10-minute drive taking three times longer than it should. Going to Home Depot or London Drugs, from the Willoughby area is a challenge at best. And when making the drive, the roads are in terrible shape.

As well, I have been lobbying the Township for years on the visual pollution that again, developers and real estate agents are permitted to erect. Signs after years, decay and lay rotting on the ground.

Developers leave signs up that state ‘SOLD OUT’, take them down immediately! Take the garbage out of the ToL. Why are you permitting this as well?

I did a PowerPoint that I delivered to the Township office of pictures of signs that remain erected for years. I have a picture of a sign that offers Christmas light installation, that I took in July. ‘For Sale’ signs laying discarded fallen over lay rotting without regard (4’ x8’ signs). I would pleased to bring you the PowerPoint so you can see for yourself what is happening on your watch.

It’s time you actually start working for the taxpayers of the Township, and not developers and real estate agents. Fix the road infrastructure and bring it to a level of operation that allows taxpayers the ability to move around the Willoughby area without the constant frustration we are having to put up with.

Rob Gaw, Willoughby

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• MORE ON INFRASTRUCTURE: Metro Van committee to hear opposing viewpoints on Surrey’s South Campbell Heights plan

• LETTER: Willoughby resident concerned about high number of crashes


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