"Highway 36": an open letter about walking 36 Avenue in Brookswood

This is an opinion piece, written as an open letter. It’s about a road, not about anyone driving on it.

To the Mayor and Council of the Township of Langley,

We call it Highway 36. It isn’t one, of course. On paper it’s 36 Avenue, a two-lane road through the west side of Brookswood. But between 196 and 200 Street it carries a commute, and alongside that commute there’s no continuous sidewalk for the people on foot.

This letter is a request for one thing: a date.

A road with two jobs

Look at the map and the road’s double life is obvious. Its west end runs out to 192 Street and the business parks of South Surrey. The Township’s own 2025 transportation study for Brookswood-Fernridge notes “a notable amount of traffic” travelling west on 36 and 32 Avenues, and puts it down to South Surrey’s growing job centres.

Just past its east end is Noel Booth Community Park, with the pond loop, sports fields, an off-leash area and a new playground the Township finished in September, along with an accessible path linking the parking lot, the trails and the school. Noel Booth Elementary sits right behind it on 35 Avenue, and Belmont Elementary is a few blocks north on 40.

So the same short stretch moves people heading to work in Surrey and families heading to the park and the school. Right now those two groups share the same road edge.

The Township has already said yes, in principle

This is the encouraging part. The plan is already written down:

• The 2025 study says 36 Avenue will stay a two-lane arterial, and lists the intersections at 196 Street and 198 Street for signals or roundabouts.
• The same study says sidewalks will be standard on both sides of all future arterial roads, and that paved shoulders or multi-use paths are planned along most two-lane arterials. 36 Avenue is on that list.
• The Township’s traffic-calming policy rules out speed humps on arterials, but allows “horizontal deflections, as well as other low impact” measures, and says roads fronting schools or playground zones don’t need a neighbourhood ballot.

What we can’t find anywhere is when. A plan with no date is a plan a family can’t walk on this winter.

Something good can happen before the big build

BC’s Active Transportation Design Guide has a name for an in-between option: a buffered pedestrian lane. It’s walking space at road level that works like a sidewalk, separated from traffic by markings, and on roads under 60 km/h it can have bollards, wheel stops or other physical separation. The guide describes it as a “flexible, low-cost” choice for exactly this situation: a stopgap where a full sidewalk will come later, or where a sidewalk isn’t feasible yet. It recommends at least 1.8 metres of walking width, 2 metres without physical separation, and warns that drainage needs care so the lane doesn’t collect gravel or puddles that freeze.

We’re not engineers, and we don’t know whether 36 Avenue has the width for it. That’s exactly why we’re asking for staff to look.

What we’re asking for

1. A public staff report within 90 days on a continuous, accessible walking route along 36 Avenue from 196 to 200 Street, and on to Noel Booth Park. It should cover an interim option and a permanent one, with costs, possible funding and a timeline.
2. A serious look at a buffered pedestrian lane as that interim option, on at least one side, while the permanent path waits its turn.
3. Counts before conclusions. Measure speed and traffic volume, count people walking at school drop-off and pick-up, and watch where they actually cross.
4. Crossings built in. Roll pedestrian crossings into the planned 196 and 198 Street intersection work, and check the walk across 200 Street to the park. The Township already knows how: in 2024, ICBC money helped it put rapid flashing beacons and speed reader boards at 17 crossings.
5. A call to Surrey. The road doesn’t stop at the border, and the walking route shouldn’t either.

The timing matters. BC is staying on daylight time all year, so in December the sun won’t be up until around the morning bell. We wrote about that in Dark mornings are coming for the school run, and a road without a sidewalk is where it bites hardest.

For everyone else reading

• Email council at [email protected]. One clear paragraph about where you walk and when goes a long way.
• Report specific problems, like a burnt-out light or a washed-out shoulder, through the Township’s form. Our Report a problem page has the link.
• Speeding is a matter for the police: Langley RCMP non-emergency, 604-532-3200.
• Want to say it in person? Our council meetings page explains how to ask for a delegation spot.

Highway 36 will always have cars on it. All we’re asking is that it also has somewhere to walk, and a date for when it will.

Warmly,

Hey Langley

More letters to the new council: Brookswood’s trees · backyard hens. Also: Brookswood Pond at Noel Booth Park · Brookswood neighbourhood guide · Township council: who they are