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More Surrey commuters are driving their own vehicles to work, survey says

Business group’s latest Surrey Road Survey says South Surrey/Highway 99 interchanges are of top concern
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Vehicles travel Fraser Highway through a section of Green Timbers Urban Forest earlier last year, prior to the four-laning of the highway as part of work to construct a SkyTrain line there. (File photo: Tom Zillich)

Nearly 92 per cent of Surrey-area commuters drove their own vehicle to work over the past year, up from 84 per cent in 2020.

Also, just one per cent of respondents surveyed by a business group walked to work, down from the previous year (4.4 per cent).

These and other numbers are included in the latest Surrey Road Survey, released by Surrey Board of Trade on Tuesday (Jan. 25).

“We distributed the survey to 6,000 members. We had just over 800 responses,” noted Anita Huberman, SBOT president and CEO.

Surrey’s network of more than 4,500 lane kilometres of road is seeing an increasing number of commuter and commercial users, the survey’s executive summary notes.

The top three road corridors “requiring attention” by survey respondents are South Surrey/Highway 99 interchanges, widening Fraser Highway to four lanes from Whalley Boulevard to 148 Street, and also 152 Street between 40 and 50 Avenue.

The sixth annual survey, posted to businessinsurrey.com as a 59-page document, aims to understand members’ commute and business travel trends, set policy and “add to their body of knowledge that will lead to better movement of people and goods through Surrey and the South Fraser Economic Region.”

In the daily commute, 53.5 per cent of survey respondents live and work in Surrey, and 10.1 per cent work in Surrey but live South of the Fraser or in Metro Vancouver, down from the previous year.

When traveling for business, 24.2 per cent drive four or more days a week for work.

For bridge travel, 76.9 per cent of those surveyed want the new Pattullo Bridge to have six lanes available on opening day, and 55.1 per cent want a bridge (“whether as originally planned or with fewer lanes”) to replace Massey Tunnel.

When it comes to traffic congestion reduction strategies, 19.3 per cent believe the current approach of the City of Surrey is the best strategy to reduce congestion, 59 per cent believe transit expansion is necessary and 21.7 per cent want mobility pricing to be introduced in a systematic fashion.

“Since last year’s survey, the City of Surrey has completed many of the road corridor projects SBOT members identified as top priorities,” notes a SBOT news release. “These include 140 Street widening between 88 Avenue and 92 Avenue, Fraser Highway widening between 140 Street and 148 Street, 32 Avenue widening between 160 Street and 162 Street to 5-lanes, cycling upgrades in City Centre and Fleetwood, and more accessible crosswalks throughout Surrey.

“Five more are planned to be completed in the next 1-5 years. These include 32 Avenue widening from King George Boulevard to 164 Street, 32 Avenue widening between 176 Street and 188 Street, 84 Avenue improvements between 120 Street and Fraser Highway, 152 Street upgrades, and protected cycling network quick-build projects.”



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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