| Harvey Specter | 07-14-2010 12:37 AM |
Highway 1 speed limit lowered from Langley to Vancouver for three years
Not good for people who commute on HWY 1... Quote:
METRO VANCOUVER - Drivers using Highway 1 over the next three years will have to slow down between Langley and Vancouver as the province lowers the speed limit along what is essentially a 37-km construction zone.
Starting Monday, the speed limit on Highway 1 will drop from 100 km/h in some sections to 80 km/h between 208th Street in Langley to Grandview Highway. From Grandview Highway to Cassiar, the speed limit will be 70 km/h.
The change in speed limits comes as the Gateway project construction ramps up to add more lanes to the highway and complete the new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge.
Between 120,000 and 130,000 people use the Port Mann Bridge daily.
Drivers who don’t comply with the new speed limits will face stiff penalties, since fines for speeding in a construction zone are significantly higher than those for a simple speeding ticket.
Fines for speeding in the construction zone will increase to $196 — from $138 now — for those doing up to 20 km over the speed limit or as high as $253, up from $196, for drivers going 21 to 40 km over the limit. Excessive speeders, those driving 40 km to 60 km over the speed limit, will face fines of $360 and $468, respectively.
“Essentially the whole corridor is an active construction zone so we’re changing it to 80 km/h the whole way through,” said Max Logan, spokesman for the Transportation Investment Corp., a public Crown corporation established by the province to oversee the Gateway project. “This is such a massive construction project that the construction zone happens to be longer … people just have to slow down; it shouldn’t affect the length of [their] commute.”
The new speeds, including a lowering of the limits between Langley’s 208th and 216th streets sometime next year, will be in effect for the duration of the $2.46-billion construction project. While the new tolled bridge is expected to open a year ahead of schedule in December 2012, the rest of the project likely won’t be finished until the end of 2013.
Logan said “we are making good progress” on the new bridge, which is being built next to the existing crossing over the Fraser River and is on time and on budget.
Two piers that will support the bridge cables are now visible and workers have started the process of putting the bridge deck sections in place at the south end. This will continue until about November, when workers will shift to the north end to start laying the deck segments, Logan said.-Work is also underway to expand various interchanges, including 152nd and 160th streets in Surrey to accommodate the widening of the highway.
Logan said efforts are being made to reduce delays on the route, but noted drivers will likely face detours as certain lanes are closed to widen the roads along the route.
The road between Grandview Highway and Cassiar, for instance, has narrow shoulders, which is why the speed limit has been reduced to 70 km/h.
Sgt. Dave Savoy, unit commander of the Port Mann Highway Patrol, said police have no plans to boost enforcement in the construction zone but they will be on the watch for speeders, especially at night when work is still going on. The reduced speed limits are needed, he added, “for the safety of the construction workers.”
Cpl. James Cheung, of the RCMP’s highway division, noted speeding is worse at night when traffic volumes are lower. As a result, speeders tend to drive even faster. “Heading westbound to the bridge, there’s a traffic jam 16 hours a day. It’s quite impossible to go over the speed limit [during the day],” he said. “There may be no construction workers actually working [at night] but it’s still dangerous to speed.”
When it opens, the new tolled Port Mann Bridge will accommodate rapid bus service, expanded cycling and pedestrian lanes and a possible light-rail line.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Highway+...#ixzz0tdzH4b9g
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