Maple Ridge is getting some help to keep its main roads in top shape – worth another $391,000 a year – from TransLink.
The city will receive the extra cash after more of its streets, another 19 kilometres, were accepted as part of TransLink’s major road network.
TransLink reviewed its network early this year and agreed to expand the major road network in Maple Ridge. The major road network is composed of arterial roads that move traffic across the Metro Vancouver region.
Those 19 new kilometres include crucial stretches of pavement in Maple Ridge: 240th Street – from Lougheed Highway to Dewdney Trunk Road; and Dewdney Trunk Road – from 232nd to 240th streets.
“It’s a good news story,” city engineer Dave Pollock told council’s Tuesday workshop meeting.
“This provides additional funding for maintenance of our roadways,” and a more connected road network, he said.
Currently, Maple Ridge receives $1.4 million a year, to maintain the existing 69 kilometres of Maple Ridge streets and roads that are already part of the major road network. With the additional funding, that amount will increase to almost $1.8 million yearly.
The additional 19 kilometres in Maple Ridge is a 27-per-cent increase to the current network in this city.
Another busy stretch that will now receive regional funding is the narrow part of 210th Street that runs north from 128th Avenue up to Jerry Sulina Park, to where a sharp bend leads on to 132nd Avenue.
In addition, 132nd Avenue, between 210th Street and Sharpe Road, will also be added to the major road network.
A staff report says the money will be used for ongoing costs, but there also will be money for capital improvements, although that amount isn’t known.
Expansion of Golden Ears Way, from two to four lanes, was also mentioned in the report. Golden Ears Way runs from 210th Street to the on ramps of the Golden Ears Bridge, and is frequently congested and has become more so since bridge tolls were removed in September 2017, increasing the amount of traffic on the Golden Ears. The report says the city will continue to press TransLink to widen that stretch as well.
But Mayor Mike Morden said that stretch is considered part of the Golden Ear Bridge project, which was built as a private-public partnership. The bridge opened in 2009. Expanding that road would involve changing the contract, Morden told council.
“That does add a layer of complexity,” he said.
The expansion of the major road network is part of the Mayor’s Vision, 10-year Transportation Plan for Metro Vancouver.
The city also receives $1.2 million a year for capital projects that are part of the major road network.