City of Abbotsford staff are set to present a long-term, plan to widen Fraser Highway over the next two decades today at council.
The plan, which must still be voted on by council, would cost an estimated $53 million – although that money would be spent over a time period reaching into the 2030s, and would depend on how traffic volumes change in the decades to come.
Earlier this year, the city gave the thumbs up to staff to seek $6 million of funding to add centre lanes a key choke points along the frequently clogged road linking Aldergrove with Abbotsford. That project – which is estimated to cost a total of $7 million – was described by Mayor Henry Braun as a way to improve the flow of traffic in the short term, before the road is eventually widened.
Under the strategy to be presented to council later today, those improvements would constitute the first of a three-phase project. The second stage would cost much more, but wouldn’t be needed until around 2025. At that point, and at an estimated cost of $18 million, Fraser Highway would be widened to four lanes from Mt. Lehman Road and about 200 metres west of Ross Road. The project would also see changes to the Mt. Lehman/Fraser Highway intersection and the adjacent highway on-ramp.
The third phase would take place after 2030 and would see the road widened to four lanes all the way to Station Road. That section of the plan, which would be dependent on land uses and other improvements, would cost an estimated $28 million.
Watch abbynews.com or check out Wednesday’s paper for council’s reaction to the proposal.