Country Roads

Transportation routes are an indispensable part of all communities. They figure prominently in the history of a place, and generally reflect a response to the environmental conditions and road construction knowledge at the time they are built. Along with their need for periodic maintenance, how they perform and integrate with the landscapes they serve raises the question of how they should be maintained.

Recognizing early on that there was a need to reconcile transport with the environment, in the 1990’s the Township developed a series of identification and maintenance guidelines for “country roads” that sought to balance the special character of some rural roads with their role as transport routes.

The goal of the guidelines are to maintain the Township’s rural roads without compromising their functional and aesthetic relationship to the rural landscape of which they are a part. Criteria used in their identification encompasses population density and anticipated growth, truck routes, traffic volume, road alignment, road width, vegetation, road shoulders, ditches, and traffic speed. The presence of historic assets, linkages to cycling routes, equestrian trails and parks are also considerations, and all of these factors together contribute to the unique sense of place evident on those roads designated as Country Roads.

Through a continuous process of annual review, sections of road that offer exceptional views of the rural landscapes that have come to define Langley, have become classified as country roads.  Popular with cyclists, motorcyclists, or those just looking to go for a country drive, these roads contribute to making the Township a more harmonious place to live and drive.  One such road is 0 Avenue, which runs approximately 16 kilometers -- the full width of the municipality. Historically known as Boundary Road, 0 Avenue was initially a gravel road until it was paved in the 1970s – 1980s.  It is now the longest country road in the Township.

0 Avenue

Additional country roads include:

• 256 Street between 0 Avenue and 58 Avenue (Highway 1);
• 224 Street between 0 Avenue and 32 Avenue;
• Robertson Crescent from 240 Street to 264 Street (Highway 13); and
• Allard Crescent.

The Country Roads program is a collaboration between Heritage Planning, Transportation Engineering and Parks. Read more about the history of Langley’s early roads and transportation routes at Our Shared History, or search early road names and their locations at Langley’s Historic Places.