It’s going to be easier to get through Pitt Meadows and across the Pitt River Bridge now that there’s an extra lane to move you west.
The opening of the $20-million westbound high occupancy lane will cut down traffic jams and get motorists on to the Pitt River Bridge.
Bus riders heading to Coquitlam will get even more of a break with the addition of bus queue-jump lanes in both directions at the Kennedy Road intersection at the east end of the Pitt River Bridge.
Those lanes allow buses to skip ahead of regular traffic thanks to the operation of traffic signals.
“These improvements on the Lougheed Highway will make travel through this busy area more convenient and safer for motorists and buses,” Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom said. “This project will make a real difference to people living in these busy communities as it provides better and faster travel options.”
The HOV lane that begins west of Harris Road is now extended east for about two kilometres so it begins at Dewdney Trunk Road.
A new metre-high centre median barrier on Lougheed Highway also improves safety for buses and other vehicles.
The project advances the objectives of the Provincial Transit Plan by making transit more attractive.
In 2008, the government launched the plan to double transit ridership and reduce greenhouse gases by 4.7 million tonnes cumulatively by 2020.
Meanwhile, Maple Ridge is getting on with a few of its road fix-up projects.
Starting this week, repair and resurfacing begins of River Road between Carshill and Darby streets, following the installation of the storm sewer upgrade. Most of the work will take place in August.
Another storm sewer project along Shady Lane (124th Avenue, between 216th and Laity streets) will see a new multi-use path go atop the utility line, making it easier for pedestrians and cyclists, while preserving the heritage trees that give the road its name. Only one tree was chopped down because of that project.
The district also recently resurfaced a short stretch of Lougheed Highway, just east of 228th Street, and applied lane markings.
In Pitt Meadows, repaving is going on Neaves Road between the south and north Alouette rivers, as well as on Ladner Road, east of Rennie Road.
Old Dewdney Trunk Road will also be repaved -- supposedly from McKechnie to Sharp road