Fort Langley residents are pushing again for trucks to be diverted around the village’s core rather than rumbling through on the main roads.
A petition with 600 local signatures is being sent to the Township council by the Fort Langley Community Association, part of an effort to get trucks out of the Fort that has been going on for years.
Andy Schildhorn, president of the FLCA, remembers a protest from back in the late 1990s when locals blocked a truck and waved placards to demonstrate their opposition to truck traffic.
Since 2011, there have been official efforts afoot to have truck traffic diverted around the Fort, using roads such as Rawlison Crescent.
The most recent community survey of local residents by the FLCA showed that trucks and traffic were the biggest concerns in the village, Schildhorn said.
“We’re not built for it, [trucks] making those corners at 96th and Glover, and also 88th and Glover,” said Schildhorn.
With Fort Langley a tourist town, there are concerns about public safety when it comes to big trucks, he said.
“People shake their heads when they see those big semis going by,” he said.
The Township has been looking into the possibility of the change in the alignment of truck traffic, with an open house in 2017 showing off some possible routes.
“We shouldn’t have any truck traffic in North Langley,” said Schildhorn.
Part of the issue is waiting for the 216th Street interchange to come in, a process which has been delayed and is now expected to be completed by the end of the year. Drivers would use 216th to head south from the highway instead of heading north through Walnut Grove along 96th or 88th Avenues.
But Schildhorn acknowledged that if the Township is serious about moving truck traffic, it will need to improve the roads that will take on the new burden, including Rawlison Crescent, south of the Fort.
That would mean funding, which is why the FLCA is bringing up the topic before the budget is finalized.