Although there are some people who live in New Westminster who would rather have all links from neighbouring communities completely severed, that doesn’t appear to be one of the options being considered by BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
There will be two open houses at which the public’s feedback regarding the future Brunette Interchange on Highway 1 will be “heard”.
A third open house will be scheduled for later in the year to give the public additional time to review the designs and ask ministry staff questions.
There are three design options for the future interchange, which will be presented at the open houses.
Option A: Brunette Interchange with Separate Municipal Connections and United Blvd. Connection – The main crossing of Highway 1 is separated into two corridors – a two- lane corridor for local traffic and a four-lane corridor for regional and provincial traffic.
Option B: Blue Mountain Interchange with United Blvd. Connection – This option extends Blue Mountain St. over Highway 1 to United Blvd. Interchanges become the main access to Highway 1.
Option C: Blue Mountain Interchange with Braid Industrial Area Connector – The direct connection between United Blvd. and Brunette is replaced by a two-lane connection from Blue Mountain St. to Columbia St. via a new connector with a two lane tunnel under the rail lines and Brunette River.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the open houses scheduled for:
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First open house: Wednesday, Nov. 2, at Maillard Middle school, 1300 Rochester Ave, Coquitlam from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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Second open house: Thursday, Nov. 3, at Sapperton Pensioners Hall, 318 Keary St., New Westminster from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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Third open house: Early December. The ministry will provide details on the third open house once it has been scheduled.
Ministry staff will be on hand to answer questions.
In addition, the B.C. government has launched a new public engagement website, for people to learn more information about the project and to provide feedback online. To go to the new website, click here: http://engage.gov.bc.ca/brunetteinterchange/