Construction starts on new Highway 99 overpass at future Costco South Surrey site | Daily Hive

Construction begins on new Highway 99 overpass next to future Costco Wholesale store site in South Surrey

Concept of the new 20 Avenue overpass at Highway 99 and road upgrades. (City of Surrey)

The City of Surrey approved a contract this week for a company to build a new 20 Avenue overpass above Highway 99 in South Surrey, with construction scheduled to begin within the next few weeks.

Currently, there is no overpass — 20 Avenue is merely a modest roadway divided by the freeway, with no east-west connection.

The project will introduce new east-west connectivity in the area and reduce congestion at the nearest existing east-west overpasses; however, it will not function as an interchange, as there will be no on- or off-ramps for Highway 99.

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This new overpass will have four vehicle lanes — two lanes in each direction — along with a multi-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists.

Additionally, the municipal government’s project will also improve the existing road network leading to and from the new overpass.

Concept of the new 20 Avenue overpass at Highway 99 and road upgrades. (City of Surrey)

Currently, 20 Avenue in the area has two vehicle lanes — one lane in each direction — but this will be upgraded to align with the new overpass, with 20 Avenue widened to four vehicle lanes between the intersection of 160 Street and 20 Avenue (west of the highway) and just before the intersection of 164 Street and 20 Avenue (east of the highway).

This work also involves installing new traffic signals and streetlights, and building a new water main crossing. This includes new traffic signals and turning bays at 20 Avenue’s intersections with King George Boulevard and 160 Avenue.

Croydon Drive will be closed once construction of the overpass begins, with a new alignment of two vehicle lanes built to maintain local road connectivity. Construction of the realigned Crydon Drive route will proceed once the City has secured the necessary lands.

Following a competitive bidding process, Surrey City Council approved a $28.75-million construction contract to Tybo Contracting this week. Except for the water main component, the new overpass and road upgrades are almost entirely funded by building development fees paid by builders and developers.

Construction on the 20 Avenue overpass and the other road and water main improvements is scheduled to begin in February 2026 and reach completion in December 2027.

Concept of the new 20 Avenue overpass at Highway 99 and road upgrades. (City of Surrey)

Construction to begin in early 2026 on new Costco store next to 20 Avenue overpass

Just southeast of the 20 Avenue overpass location is the 33-acre site of 1891-1947 164 St. — a vacant property that will be developed into a new Costco Wholesale store location, following City Council’s approval of the application in November 2025.

As part of the municipal government’s overall long-term transportation strategy for the rapidly growing area, the City’s planning for the 20 Avenue overpass started long before Costco first began floating the idea of building a new store in the immediate area.

With the development now approved, Costco aims to begin construction in early 2026, with completion and opening targeted for late 2027, which is also when the City’s 20 Avenue overpass project will finish. Upon opening, Costco anticipates the store will generate over 400 jobs.

The project will include a 165,000 sq. ft. store building — Metro Vancouver’s largest Costco location — along with a Costco gas station and a surface vehicle parking lot providing 975 stalls.

costco south surrey 1891-1947 164 street

Concept of the new Costco Wholesale store at 1891-1947 164 St., Surrey. (MG2 MulvannyG2 Architecture/Costco)

During the November 2025 public hearing, Costco’s project consultants shared that this store location is highly strategic for the company — not only for South Surrey’s continued rapid population growth through new residential developments, but also the sheer number of residents in the area who cross the Canada-U.S. border to shop at the Costco in Bellingham, which is about a 35-minute drive south, not including border wait times.

There are about 31,000 Costco members within the South Surrey area alone, and about 13,000 members living in the City of Surrey frequently shop in the Bellingham store instead of the Canadian stores.

Costco estimates that the high number of Canadian shoppers at the Bellingham store translates to about $22 million per year leaving Canada for the U.S.

Over the past year, these cross-border Costco shopping trips have decreased due to political and economic tensions, but at some point that will end, with a continued rise especially if there is no Costco in South Surrey.

Costco will fund other major road improvements near South Surrey store

During the public consultation process and the public hearing, one of the primary concerns raised by local residents was the potential impact of Costco’s business on local traffic, as significant numbers of shoppers are expected to arrive at and depart from the site by personal vehicle.

The area surrounding the development site is currently served by narrow local roads — some of a rural character — and concerns were also raised about possible congestion at the 16 Avenue interchange, the closest interchange for Highway 99 to the site, located just to the south. Residents further expressed fears about the possibility for traffic backups extending onto the highway during peak shopping periods.

However, as part of the Costco project, the retailer will also make significant privately-funded investments to improve and expand the capacity of the surrounding road network, complementing and supplementing the municipal government’s publicly-funded 20 Avenue overpass project and related road upgrades.

Costco’s road improvements will be carried out in parallel with the store’s construction timeline, ready in time for the store’s opening day. Together, the entire Costco project — both the new store building at the development site and the various road upgrades — will carry a combined total construction cost of over $100 million for the company.

1891 164 Street 1947 164 Street Surrey Costco

Future site of Costco Wholesale at 1891-1947 164 St., Surrey.. (Google Maps)

Future site of Costco Wholesale at 1891-1947 164 St., Surrey. (Google Maps)

Concept of the new Costco Wholesale store at 1891-1947 164 St., Surrey. (MG2 MulvannyG2 Architecture/Costco)

Costco’s road improvements will focus on improving north-south connectivity along 164 Avenue to 20 Avenue. Currently, 164 Avenue south of the Costco site ends in a dead end and does not extend to 16 Avenue, preventing direct access to the 16 Avenue interchange, and there are no plans at this time to change this dead end to create such a connectivity as part of this particular privately-funded project. As a result, vehicles must rely on a circuitous route through local streets to travel between the interchange and the store.

During the November 2025 public hearing, Brian Rooney, a senior technical manager with engineering firm WSP and the transportation consultant for the Costco project, said the retailer will upgrade 164 Street from its current narrow rural configuration of two vehicle lanes — one lane in each direction — to a four-lane collector road with two lanes in each direction. This collector standard will be applied along the east side of the store property between 164 Street’s intersection with 20 Avenue and just south of the intersection with 19 Avenue.

Costco will also significantly widen a segment of 20 Avenue to the east and west of the key intersection of 164 Avenue — leading right up to the City’s 20 Avenue overpass project and four-lane road widening to the west. This also includes additional turning lanes and new traffic signals.

The main entrance into Costco’s parking lot will be at the intersection of 164 Street and 19 Avenue, where a two-lane roundabout will be built.

As well, the segment of 18 Avenue in the area — immediately south of the store property — will be upgraded to a local road standard.

A few blocks to the east of the development site, Costco will also install new traffic signals and build additional turning lanes at the intersection of 20 Avenue and 168 Street.

Chris Tiesler, a traffic engineer with Kittleson & Associates who has worked on numerous Costco projects across North America and serves as a transportation consultant for this particular project, said a “rigorous” transportation analysis was conducted to assess both short- and long-term traffic impacts. The analysis was carried out in collaboration with the municipal government and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit. The Costco-funded transportation upgrades are expected to allow the area’s traffic signal-controlled intersections within a few blocks radius to operate at acceptable levels through at least 2036.

City planning more road widening and highway interchange upgrades

During the public hearing, City of Surrey staff also shared that additional road upgrades are envisioned for the area — far beyond the current 20 Avenue overpass and Costco-funded projects.

Such upgrades are needed to support the area’s growth; the municipal government projects South Surrey — including Semiahmoo Peninsula and Grandview Heights — will see a population growth of 63 per cent over the next 30 years, rising from about 97,000 to nearly 158,000. Most of this growth will happen within Grandview Heights, which is east of Highway 99.

City staff and previously completed planning work recommend widening 164 Street south of 18 Avenue and removing the dead end to re-establish 164 Street’s direct connection to 16 Avenue to create a more direct and shorter route to reach the 16 Avenue interchange. Up until just over a decade ago — when the provincial government completed the new replacement and expanded 16 Avenue overpass and interchange — 164 Street directly connected to 16 Avenue.

Future new developments in the area could introduce brand new major additional road connections through areas that are currently private lots.

City staff also shared that the municipal government has plans to widen 16 Avenue between its interchange with Highway 99 and 168 Street. This is expected to be a widening of 16 Avenue from its current configuration of two vehicle lanes (one lane in each direction) to four vehicle lanes (two lanes in in each direction), which would match the 2014-completed four-lane width of the 16 Avenue overpass and segment of 16 Avenue west of the highway. More details will be announced later in 2026.

At some point in the future, more improvements are planned for 20 Avenue in the area, which would widen the roadway from its current configuration of two vehicle lanes (one lane in each direction) to four vehicle lanes (two lanes in each direction) between 160 Street and King George Boulevard. As well, there would be future 20 Avenue improvements to a more optimal collector road standard between King George Boulevard and 152 Street.

Additionally, the municipal government is in the early stages of exploring additional exchanges or ramps to the highway’s 24th Avenue interchange to the north. This will provide some relief to the 16 Avenue interchange.

Concept of the new 20 Avenue overpass at Highway 99 and road upgrades. (City of Surrey)

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