How will the #1 Highway expansion affect roads in our communities?
Who can say how the roads in our communities will be affected once the ability to bring in even greater volumes exists? The #1 Highway already exists, but widening it would increase demand on a number of local traffic routes. In East Vancouver, for example, access points to the highway would be located at Hastings, 1st Ave. and 12th Ave. These roads already operate at maximum capacity during peak hours. The only way to handle additional capacity would be to widen existing roads or to build a freeway. In Coquitlam and New Westminster, the North Fraser Perimeter road is already planned to manage more traffic through those communities for the traffic coming from a 6-lane Highway-1. However freeway expansion will render these plans obsolete. We have not seen how the provincial government is planning to handle further traffic increases in our communities resulting from the expanded freeway – any briefings they have had with municipal officials happened behind closed doors. It is safe to say
