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Stimulus created 445 Langley jobs

The Golden Ears mountains bathed in winter sunlight and the drone of bulldozers and trucks created a contrasting setting in which several of Langley’s senior politicians celebrated the progress of the Transit Exchange Park and Ride in the 20200 block of 86 Avenue, on Thursday afternoon.Despite the sunshine, a biting wind persuaded Langley’s Conservative MP Mark Warawa, MLA Mary Polak, Mayor Rick Green of the Township and Mayor Peter Fassbender of the City to quicken the pace of their speeches.The park and ride facility, Warawa said, is creating 150 jobs, and is an important indicator of the government’s commitment to make the economy the top priority.It is part of the government’s Economic Action Plan (EAP), Warawa said.The park and ride event was one of more than 80 similar ones occurring across the country that day, and was one of 20 stimulus projects that are either under way or already completed in Langley.The EAP has invested $100 million of federal money in Langley City over in the past 24 months, creating more than 445 jobs.“That is why we are celebrating today,” Warawa said. The politicians pinned 445 paper hard hats on a board to symbolize the boost in employment the projects have brought.With almost $20 million of federal money, the park and ride is the most ambitious.Highway 1 RapidBus will connect transit users from the 202 Street Park and Ride to the Lougheed SkyTrain Station in less than 25 minutes. Among its features:• 800 parking spaces; • HOV/transit-only on- and off-ramps to and from Highway 1, connecting to the park and ride and 86 Avenue via 202 Street; • An HOV/transit-only connection from 88 Avenue to Highway 1;• Relocated Transit Exchange; the existing exchange at 200 Street will be relocated to 202 Street, allowing for more parking spaces and improved access to Highway 1 and the Golden Ears Bridge for buses, and • A new pedestrian and cyclist trail connected to the Langley trail system;Among other significant projects in Langley are social housing upgrades on Eastleigh Crescent ($550,000); Al Anderson pool renovations ($5.5 million); a synthetic turf field at Willoughby Community Park ($4.6 million); West Langley Dike upgrade and flood risk reduction ($2.2 million); Trinity Western University library and science building upgrades and communication infrastructure upgrades ($1.7 million).The Nicomekl Bridge replacement ($9 million), which is almost complete, is also one of the EAP projects.