Drivers may see a drop in their commute times with the opening of lanes in some of the most congested areas along the Port Mann/Highway 1 corridor, including the Burnaby to Coquitlam stretch.
Crews will open a section of new eastbound lanes on Sunday and additional sections of new lanes will be opening in both directions in stages over the coming days next week.
By Christmas, all new, widened Highway 1 lanes will be open to traffic west of the Port Mann Bridge, according to Greg Johnson, spokesperson for the Transportation Investment Corporation.
The lane openings have to be staged throughout the week to avoid creating congestion in areas along the route and to make sure the lanes are safe for drivers.
The stages are as follows:
Sunday, Dec. 15 - Eastbound Cassiar to Kensington
Monday, Dec. 16 - Westbound Wilingdon to Cassiar
Tuesday, Dec. 17 - Westbound Kensington to Willilngdon
Thursday, Dec. 19 - Kensington to Brunette
Friday, Dec. 20 - Brunett to Kensington
Johnson said the openings will cut commute times by about 30 minutes on top of the time savings created with the opening of the new Port Mann Bridge.
Final finishing work along the corridor will continue through 2014. This work primarily involves completion of the final two lanes of the Port Mann Bridge which are necessary for the bridge's long-term future capacity.
