Surrey planning 5-km road extension of 72 Avenue across Serpentine River

City of Surrey planning five-km extension of 72 Avenue across Serpentine River

Map of the 72 Avenue extension (City of Surrey) and the existing condition of 72 Avenue looking east from the intersection with 152 Street (Google Maps).

The existing major gap of the east-west arterial road route of 72 Avenue near the geographic centre of Surrey will be filled through one of municipal government’s most extensive road construction projects in years.

On Monday, Surrey City Council gave City of Surrey staff the green light to proceed with the procurement of a detailed design to perform a five-km-long, four-lane-wide extension of the 72 Avenue roadway between 152 Street and Highway 15 (Pacific Highway/176 Street).

This extension of 72 Avenue will go through an area that is immediately surrounded by the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), but along a 20-metre, un-opened road corridor that has been preserved for the possibility of such a future road extension.

Currently, this corridor is occupied by private crops, drainage ditches, and private farm access roads. The road extension would primarily be fronted by properties used for dairy operations.

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According to City staff, it is expected the 72 Avenue extension project would require up to 28 acres of ALR for the space to relocate the drainage ditches and perform irrigation improvements and another acre of ALR land would be needed for the spatial requirements of major intersection locations. This would require the approval of the provincial government’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).

The 72 Avenue road extension would necessitate the construction of a clear span bridge across Bear Creek, a three-span bridge across the Serpentine River, and a large box culvert across Fleetwood Creek.

Map of the 72 Avenue extension route. (City of Surrey)

The existing condition of 72 Avenue looking east from the intersection with 152 Street (Google Maps).

Looking west towards the 72 Avenue extension from the site of the future intersection with Highway 15. (Google Maps)

During the public meeting, there was agreement amongst the city councillors that the extension should be built to a four-lane road standard from the get-go.

City staff presented four possible design standard options, including the first option of a two-lane narrow road for $95 million, the second option of a two-lane road with multi-use pathways, farm access, and improved drainage for $132 million, the third option of a four-lane road with improved drainage and farm access for $138 million, and the fourth option of a four-lane road with a multi-use pathway, improved drainage, and farm access for $158 million.

City Council endorsed City staff’s recommendation of the third option of a baseline four-lane road design, with two lanes in each direction and improved drainage and farm access.

According to City staff, a four-lane road standard would provide the necessary traffic capacity to support Surrey’s population growth through 2050, with the widest design option also providing “the most optimal balance between transportation users and farm access while minimizing farm security concerns, improved drainage and irrigation.” But the widest and most expensive four-lane design of the fourth option could also see some approval uncertainty through the ALC.

The third option has a high likelihood of ALC approval, according to City staff. Its $138 million cost would largely be funded by general revenue collected by the City as the Roads and Traffic Safety Levy (62%) and the remainder through Development Cost Charges (38%). A portion of the project’s funding could come from reallocating funding currently dedicated to existing projects.

“The approval of the 72 Avenue extension is the largest municipal transportation investment in the City’s history,” said Mayor Brenda Locke.

The third option for 72 Avenue extension’s four-lane design with drainage and farm access improvements. (City of Surrey)

The City will also request TransLink to add the five-km-long extension of 72 Avenue to the region’s Major Road Network, which could enable the City to receive capital and ongoing maintenance funding for the project. As well, the 72 Avenue extension would be designated as a truck route.

“This infrastructure project represents a significant investment in Surrey’s future. By creating a continuous connection between Highway 91 and Highway 15, we are facilitating smoother traffic flow and enhancing connectivity and effectively reducing traffic congestion on highways and arterial routes such as Highway 10, 64th Avenue, and 88th Avenue,” said city councillor Mandeep Nagra.

City councillor Doug Elford added, “The construction of the new 72nd Avenue corridor underscores our commitment to addressing traffic congestion and improving transportation infrastructure by providing a critical east-west road connector to support Surrey’s continued growth.”

The 72 Avenue extension project will completely replace the planned future Bear Creek Connector just to the north — a roughly east-west, diagonal roadway between the intersection of 84 Avenue and 138 Street and 80 Avenue just west of the Serpentine River. Instead, the Bear Creek Corridor will now be redesignated as an active transportation corridor for pedestrians and cyclists — without space for vehicles.

Bear Creek Corridor’s sole active transportation uses would eliminate the need for pedestrian and cycling space within the 72 Avenue extension, which presents farm security concerns and reduces the cumulative footprint of roadways within the ALR.

Currently, the nearest parallel east-west arterial routes see 86,800 vehicles per day, including 12,500 along the same five-km-long segment of 88 Avenue, 27,000 along 64 Avenue, and 47,300 along Highway 10.

By 2050, without the 72 Avenue extension, these vehicle volumes will grow to a total of 109,400, including 19,500 on 88 Avenue, 36,600 on 64 Avenue, and 53,300 on Highway 10.

With the 72 Avenue extension, by 2050, the total vehicle volumes would reach 129,700, including 17,500 on 88 Avenue, 24,900 on 64 Avenue, 50,000 on Highway 10, and 37,300 on the 72 Avenue extension.

The City’s threshold for requiring a new four-lane arterial road is generally 18,000 vehicles per day.

Vehicle traffic comparison today and in 2050 on nearby parallel routes. (City of Surrey)

If all goes as planned, the 72 Avenue extension project’s detailed design will be completed by Spring 2025. Properties would be required between May and September 2025, a site preparation contract would be awarded in Fall 2025, the pre-load placement and settlement period would take place between Fall 2025 and 2028, and major roadway construction would be built between 2028 and 2030.

Other recent major road projects in Surrey entail the recent widening of Fraser Highway through Green Timbers Urban Forest from a two-lane standard to a four-lane standard with space for the elevated guideway of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, and the 84 Avenue extension on the southern border of Bear Creek Park. Construction is underway on the widening of 152 Street from two lanes to four lanes between the Serpentine River and the Nicomekl River.

Construction also began today on the widening of 64 Avenue from two lanes to four lanes between 177B Street and 184 Street.

During Monday’s public meeting, City Council also approved Mayor Brenda Locke’s member motion directing City staff to review how provincial and federal infrastructure investments in Surrey compare to Vancouver and other major Canadian cities.

“As the second largest city in BC, Surrey has fallen woefully behind in transit, supportive housing, health care, education, and other large infrastructure projects,” said Locke.

“In light of this ongoing shortfall, I introduced a motion to have staff conduct a review of how provincial and federal infrastructure funding to Surrey compares with Vancouver and similar-sized cities across the country. It is no secret that Surrey has not received its fair share and I hope this audit will shine a light on how acute the infrastructure deficit is in what will soon be the largest city in the province.”

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