Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension hits construction milestone

A massive transit project is one step closer to opening with construction of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension underway.

A major transit project south of the Fraser River is one step closer to opening.

Construction is now officially underway at all eight stations along the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.

Officials gathered at the site of the future Willowbrook Station in Langley Friday morning to mark the milestone.

“This project is going to transform how people get around south of the Fraser, and create much smoother connections across the Lower Mainland,” Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth told reporters.

The 16-kilometre extension will run from King George Station to downtown Langley along an elevated guideway.

Once completed, a trip from Langley’s city centre to Surrey Central Station will take 22 minutes, and commuters will be able to get to downtown Vancouver in about an hour.

The project, which is budgeted at $5.996 billion, also includes three new bus exchanges.

The City of Surrey says the region is expected to welcome more than 400,000 new residents over the next 30 years, placing more pressure on the transportation system. City officials say they are in the process of creating new land use plans along the Fraser Highway corridor to support the development of transit-oriented communities.

“Building necessary infrastructure not only supports our existing housing supply, but facilitates the construction of more affordable housing,” Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai said at Friday’s news conference.

The Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension is scheduled to open in fall 2029.