B.C. announces $2.65B in funding for Highway 1 upgrades

Key Takeaways:

• B.C. has approved $2.65 billion in new funding to widen and improve Highway 1 between Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 in Abbotsford, adding to the $2.34 billion previously approved for upgrades between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road. These upgrades are part of a broader plan to expand the highway through the Fraser Valley.
• Key improvements include the reconstruction of overpasses, the addition of new interchanges, and the introduction of HOV and bus-on-shoulder lanes to make transit more efficient.
• The upgrades, which serve a rapidly growing region, are scheduled to take place in multiple phases, with major construction on the first section beginning in 2024 and completion expected by 2031.

The Whole Story:

The B.C. government has greenlit an additional $2.65 billion to widen and enhance Highway 1 between Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 in Abbotsford, building on the $2.34 billion already allocated for upgrades between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road. This investment is a key component of a larger initiative to expand Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley.

“To make life better for people in the fast-growing Fraser Valley, our government is building the homes, schools, hospitals and highways families need,” said Premier David Eby. “By improving Highway 1, we’ll keep goods moving smoothly and help people get to work and back home faster, so they can spend less time stuck in traffic and more time with their families.” 

New funding of $2.65 billion has been approved for upgrades to Highway 1 between Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 in Abbotsford. This builds on the $2.34-billion provincial funding approved in fall 2023 for upgrades between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road. The Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program will eventually see the highway expanded through the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford toward Chilliwack.

“I know that many people in the Fraser Valley find travel increasingly difficult, given the traffic volume on Highway 1, and we’re working hard to address these concerns” said Dan Coulter, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit. “We’re focusing on improvements to the highway through widening to accommodate sustainable transportation and better, more accessible interchanges to make it easier and quicker for people to get where they need to go.”

Along the 28-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 between 216th Street and Abbotsford, overpasses at Peardonville Road, Bradner Road and the CPKC rail overhead will be rebuilt to improve the height clearance for commercial vehicles, improving safety for all road users. The Glover Road crossing has been completed.

New interchanges will be constructed at 232nd Street, 264th Street, Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 to improve community connections, and to make travel by walking or bike safer and more accessible. High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along the length of this section of highway and bus-on-shoulder lanes in some sections will make travel by transit quicker and more reliable.

Major construction will begin on the $2.34-billion section between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road in 2024, with completion of the fourth major phase expected in 2029.

Procurement for the $2.65-billion improvements to Highway 1 between Mt. Lehman Road and Highway 11 – the fourth major phase – will begin in 2025. Major construction will start in 2026, with completion in 2031.

Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley serves a growing region and more than 80,000 drivers who use the highway between Langley and Abbotsford, and through the Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford into Chilliwack every day. More than $65 billion in goods move along the corridor annually.