Friday, August 11, 2023 - highway expansion delayed

Friday, August 11, 2023 | 🌤 High 25C

Good morning!

I’ve recently received a couple very kind requests from readers in Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs to add their specific small towns to our short weather forecast blurb below. I’ve got a little secret to share: we are fibbing a bit. Your forecast is already there. It’s Chilliwack’s that is actually missing.

Let me explain: we use Environment Canada weather forecasts (basically they’re a neutral barometer; I’m not convinced EC is more accurate, but they are more official so until we have proof the Weather Network is better, we’ll be sticking with it). Chilliwack does not have its own Environment Canada weather station. Instead, its official temperatures (and thus forecasts) are actually for Agassiz. You can punch both communities into the Environment Canada website and get different pages, but the forecast will be identical (at least it has been every time I checked.)

Other weather services may provide different forecasts for the two communities. But those tend to be derived from models that range from semi-accurate to sketchy. It doesn’t matter much either. The valley's communities are so close together that any differences in forecasts tend to be miniscule. It tends to only really matter when we’re talking about the difference between rain, snow, and freezing rain. Even then it’s often a crapshoot. So for the time being, we’ll stick with the four places we list.

Also, the Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak this weekend and one of the best places to catch the celestial event is reportedly in the valley. Insiders can scroll to the members-only section at the bottom of the newsletter to hear from one of their own about the best place to watch and how special arrangements can be made for an even more enjoyable experience. (Not a member yet? Don’t miss out on the summer sale).

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WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

Highway expansion delayed

Widening Highway 1 through Abbotsford may take much longer than originally promised by the NDP government. Just how much is unclear.

In an interview with The Current Wednesday, Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter, who is also BC’s Minister of State for Transportation and Infrastructure, said widening the highway to Sumas Way in Abbotsford now might not be completed until 2034 or 2035.

The next day, his ministry emailed to say he misspoke and that construction “could well be” completed faster than 2035. But they wouldn’t provide a new date.

Whatever the case, the NDP’s original election promise to widen the highway to Abbotsford by 2026 has been thrown out the window, with the government blaming the atmospheric river—even though most of the route was unaffected by the disaster.

The ministry’s email said the government had “long been clear with local stakeholders and partners that that 2026 date had changed,” though that change in timeline had never been made in public to local media. (Last year, when The Current asked if the project was on schedule, officials did not directly answer.)

• Today, Tyler writes about the latest timeline for the Fraser Valley highway improvement project, and business leaders’ call for quicker action.

• Tyler is scheduled to chat about the latest highway news on CKNW Friday morning. Tune in here at 9:15am.

Need to know

💧 Canada’s ‘antiquated’ legal system is preventing the Fraser River from being recognized as a person [TriCity News]

⚖️ Langley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack churches that were arguing their constitutional rights were violated when indoor religious services were banned during the pandemic won’t be able to take their case to the Supreme Court [Yahoo]

🗳 Two candidates are vying for a seat at Harrison council in a by-election [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

🍔 People mistakenly thought they could register in advance for an In-N-Out Burger when the chain visits Langley next month [Aldergrove Star]

🏡 The real estate market is showing signs the rate hike is having an impact [CityNews]

🚔 Changes in BC’s gang landscape have made way for the ‘violent emergence of subgroups’ [Global]

🍖 Fraser Valley Meats has opened in Abbotsford [Abbotsford News]

🚐 The Chilliwack Mall transit exchange has been temporarily relocated [Chilliwack Progress]

🚗 The Sunshine Valley Classic Car Show returns to Hope this weekend [Hope Standard]

🎨 A Coast Salish artist recently completed murals across the Fraser Cascade School District [Hope Standard]

The Agenda

Abbotsford Airshow road closures

If you’re not making use of the free transit there are some road closures around Abbotsford airport this weekend you’ll want to be aware about.

The following road closures will be in effect at various times until Sunday:

• Tracey Street, between King and Walmsley roads

• Walmsley Avenue, between Tracey Street and Clearbrook Road

• Queen Street, south of Marshall Road

• Hamm Street, between Huntington Road and Zero Avenue

• Huntington Road, between Mt. Lehman and Townline roads

• Drivers are advised to use a Huntington Road detour south to Zero Avenue

• Townline Road, south of King Road

No need to revisit transit contracting model, MLA says

Despite the recurrence of extended regional transit strikes, the provincial government isn’t rethinking the use of private companies to operate bus services across BC.

This year’s four-month transit strike in the Fraser Valley followed an even longer work stoppage in Whistler last year. The strikes left riders searching for transportation for months, sometimes at great cost.

While BC Transit and the provincial government insisted that the labour dispute was between the workers’ union and the private contractor that operates bus services in each community, some suggested that structural issues had complicated the deals and made the pursuit of labour peace more difficult.

In the Fraser Valley, the union said the company told it that finding more money for workers would require dealing directly with BC Transit. The bus operator had signed a contract with BC Transit in June of 2020 after its previous contract with workers had expired and before it had signed a new deal with drivers.

Dan Coulter, a Chilliwack MLA and the Minister of State for Transportation and Infrastructure, told The Current Wednesday that the the fact that a deal was reached suggests there’s no need to revisit the system.

“It didn’t stop the two sides from finding a deal in the end,” he said.

Coulter said he’s not worried about the recurrence of long transit strikes.

“There’s lots of transit deals that have been made around the province as well,” Coulter said. “Those are one you don’t necessarily hear about. In Victoria and Kelowna, for instance, folks settled pretty quickly before there was a strike. I don’t think anything causes a strike in particular. I don’t think this model causes strikes. Companies and unions are negotiating freely on these things and they have the right to do so. Striking is part of this.”

BC Transit refused The Current’s requests for interviews with either its CEO and Chair.

Things to do

🥁 Big Band Sunday: The Bruce James Orchestra will be performing at Kilby for Big Band Sunday. Details online.

🦋 Butterfly release: The Langley Hospice Society and Langley Lodge will be holding their annual Butterfly Release & Fundraiser on Saturday at Krause Berry Farms. Order your butterflies online.

🐶 Dog fundraiser: Babes & Bullies, a fundraiser for “blockhead” dogs, will be held at Langley’s Roots and Wings Distillery on Saturday. Tickets online.

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