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- Thursday - June 13, 2024 - Dangerous Mission intersection upgraded
Thursday - June 13, 2024 - Dangerous Mission intersection upgraded
Grace Kennedy
June 13, 2024
☀ High 22C
Good morning!
I am loving the entries we are seeing so far for our June Perspectives story on local love! There are some great romantic stories in there—but I’d always love to see more. If you haven’t shared your story yet, you can do so here. And if you want to share any photos of you and your partner in the Fraser Valley, you can just reply to this email.
Also: we're writing a follow-up story on congestion in local emergency rooms. Tyler is hoping to speak to a patient who spent multiple days in the ER waiting for a bed elsewhere in the hospital over the last year. If that's you, send us an email.
As always, don’t be a stranger! We love hearing from all of you about your story ideas, personal anecdotes, and feedback.
– Grace
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Traffic & Weather
🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope
🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.
🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.
NEWS
Where is BC’s new animal health centre going?
BC’s animal health centre was flooded in November 2021. Although the centre has now reopened, the province is looking at a new, less flood-prone location for the facility. 📷 Google Street View
The University of the Fraser Valley’s Abbotsford campus may soon get a very large neighbour.
Last year, the province announced it was planning to build a new plant and animal health centre in the Fraser Valley. The current facility on Angus Campbell Road in Abbotsford handles almost all disease monitoring, testing, and analysis for the entire province. The lab was severely damaged in the 2021 flood and although it has since reopened, the province now wants to build a new, larger facility located somewhere that doesn’t flood every couple of decades.
The 30-year-old lab is one of the province’s largest governmental buildings in the Fraser Valley, occupying a prominent barn-like structure just north of Highway 1.
A new facility would cost tens of millions of dollars to build. The province has yet to announce the location for the new facility, despite saying a business case for the new facility would be complete by the end of 2023. But new online documents indicate the province has settled on a likely site. And while the location has not yet been formally revealed, the documents point to one specific property.
Seven years ago, Tyler went inside the old animal health centre to learn about how it operates, and how its workers fought a major avian influenza outbreak. You can read that story here.
Related
Need to Know
🏊♂️ Langley swim club competitor Fernando Lu will be heading to Paris for the Olympics this summer [Langley Advance Times]
💧 Abbotsford is looking to open a new splash pad at Crossley Park next spring [Abbotsford News]
🎶 A music festival described as a miniature Woodstock is coming to Cultus Lake at the end of June [Chilliwack Progress]
🐈 A pack of cats attacked a Langley woman’s dog over the weekend [Langley Advance Times]
💳 Evacuees will now be able to get financial support via e-transfer during emergencies [CBC]
🚑 Three people were taken to hospital after a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 1 in Abbotsford Tuesday night [Abbotsford News]
🏠 The Paramount, Chilliwack’s new affordable housing venture, will be holding an open house on June 25 [Chilliwack Progress] / Market rental units for people over 55 are still available for $1,170/month, although all subsidized units have been taken [Fraser Valley Today]
🛢 Oil refineries say they have concerns about the quality of crude oil being shipped through the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion [CBC]
👉 Scientists say BC’s ‘big one’ could be an even more dramatic earthquake than previously thought [CityNews]
🥇 Six Abbotsford students were victorious at BC’s track and field championships over the weekend [Abbotsford News]
🗳 Trucker Harman Bhangu will run for the BC Conservative party in Langley-Abbotsford in the upcoming provincial election [Fraser Valley Today]
🕹 Dozens of games from a retro Vancouver arcade are going up for auction today, including pinball machines and racing games [Vancouver Sun]
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SPONSORED BY SCOTFESTBC
ScotFestBC - June 14 & 15
The SFU Pipe Band. Whisky school. REMAX Scottish Heavy Events. Highland dance. Pacific Rim Drumming Championship. Ashley MacIsaac. The Whiskeydicks. 20 food trucks. children’s Scottish Experience. Vendors . . . . ScotFestBC 2024, June 14 & 15 at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park. You gotta be there!
The Agenda
The intersection at Highways 7 and 11 will be getting some new lanes this summer. 📷 Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
Mission’s most-dangerous intersection getting upgrades
Mission’s busiest intersection is set for big upgrades over the summer.
The provincial government announced yesterday that the intersection of highways 7 and 11 will be getting $5 million in upgrades this summer. A new northbound turn lane onto Highway 11, and increased lane capacity for the Highway 7 westbound turn lane will be added to the junction. Traffic islands will be modified to make turning easier for large trucks, and road signs, draining, lighting, and traffic signals will all be upgraded.
Construction is set to begin this summer and be completed by the fall.
In 2022, The Current reported that the Highway 7 and Highway 11 intersection was the most dangerous intersection in Mission, and the second-most dangerous intersection in the valley. In 2021, there were 130 crashes at the intersection.
Othello Tunnels to open partially next month
The province says Othello Tunnels and its surrounding provincial park are slated to open within a month, but only partially. The province has scheduled a media event for next Thursday at which they will provide a tour of the site.
A media release says the tours are being held ahead of the "partial park re-opening in early July." It notes that BC Parks is restoring the area in two phases "so people can still enjoy part of the popular park this summer." The tunnels themselves are set to "partially" re-open, according to a spokesperson.
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🗓 Things to do this week/end
🏹 LOTR trivia: Abbotsford's Boardwalk Cafe and Games is hosting a Lord of the Rings trivia night today at 6:30pm. Winning teams receive stickers; everyone else gets a fun night. Details online.
🚜 Farm tour: The Ryder Lake Ramble returns Saturday, June 15 from 10am to 4pm. People wanting to participate in the self-guided tour of Ryder Lake farms can head to Ryder Lake Hall to get their wristband and map. Details online.
🐱 Cat auction: The Chilliwack Animal Safe Haven is holding its first silent auction on June 15 to raise money for vet bills, cat food, and senior cat support. Businesses can donate items or services to the auction by emailing [email protected]. Auction details online.
Want even more? Insider members get a comprehensive events listing every Thursday, plus a weekly Saturday round-up edition with behind-the-scenes content. Becoming a member costs less than $2 a week and helps support the ongoing production of The Current’s newsletters and in-depth journalism. Become a member here.
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