Input Welcomed on Fort Langley Pedestrian Plaza

A new place for visitors to take a break and enjoy Fort Langley is now available on Glover Road at Mary Avenue. Until mid-autumn, a temporary outdoor pedestrian plaza space sits atop two street-parking stalls and provides tables and bench seating to create gathering and leisure space. While in place, the Township of Langley invites residents and visitors to share their feedback on their experience with the plaza via online survey.
The pedestrian plaza is part of the Connected Communities Pilot Project, which is partially funded through external grants from TransLink and the Government of Canada’s Healthy Communities Initiative distributed through Community Foundations of Canada. The pilot project aims to create more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly streets and support local businesses by increasing foot traffic and keeping potential customers nearby. In addition to the pedestrian plaza, the Connected Communities Pilot Project is scheduled to include improvements to cycling routes connecting Walnut Grove and Fort Langley and bicycle racks on Glover Road in early fall.
“Projects that repurposed road space for enhanced pedestrian areas became increasingly popular at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when outdoor space was at a premium,” explains Meghan Woods, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator with the Township of Langley. “Many municipalities found these spaces were embraced by the community, and residents don’t want to see them disappear. Since this pop-up plaza in Fort Langley is a first for the Township, we are implementing it temporarily and seeking public input so we can better understand how the community interacts with and feels about the space.”
To capture this information, residents and visitors can visit the project’s webpage at tol.ca/engageTOL to take a brief online survey, or simply scan the QR codes available on the tables and benches in the plaza. The survey will remain open until the plaza is dismantled, tentatively scheduled for early October.
In constructing and decorating the plaza, consideration was taken to ensure the project used sustainable materials and efforts were made to keep costs low whenever possible. The plaza boasts unique features such as seating made by old-growth timber salvaged from the Engelwood Railway in Woss, B.C., located on northern Vancouver Island. The decorative planters are former whiskey barrels, cut in half and donated by a local business. The planters are filled with low-maintenance plants repurposed from previous Township landscape works, while the plaza itself was built in-house by Township crews. The plaza also includes features to ensure it is more accessible for all people, such as a sidewalk-grade platform deck and space for strollers, scooters, and wheelchairs.
The project supports the goals of the Township’s Climate Action Strategy, such as reducing carbon emissions from the use of personal vehicles, as well as encouraging people to make the shift from travelling in passenger vehicles and into more sustainable, active travel modes such as walking and cycling. To learn more about climate action efforts in the Township, visit tol.ca/climateaction.