Cycling the South Fraser Perimeter Road

A new cycling option is now available for cyclists in the Metro Vancouver area. The first section of the South Fraser Perimeter road opened on December 1, 2012. The 10 kilometre section of new highway in Surrey runs east from 136th Street out to 176th Street, where it joins Highway 15.

Background

The South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) is part of the Province of British Columbia's Gateway Program, which aims to "improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout Metro Vancouver..."

The SFPR is a 40 kilometre expressway linking Deltaport to major commercial and industrial facilities along the south shore of the Fraser River. When complete, it will have connections to many other major Provincial highways including Highway 1, 15, 91, and 99.

South Fraser Perimeter Road (Wikipedia)

The project has had its share of opponents; mainly environmental and neighbourhood groups concerned about increased noise, greenhouse gas emissions, and the impact on nearby Burns Bog.

While many of these concerns are valid, it appears the project is going ahead as planned.

Cycling the SFPR

The SFPR is an excellent alternative for cyclists travelling or commuting to or from the eastern parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There is easy access from the west end of the SFPR to the Scott Road SkyTrain station. The east end has a variety of cycling routes to chose from -- Maple Ridge, Fort Langley, south Surrey, and Langley are all easily accessible.

Here is a time lapse video from http://www.1truecanadian.ca/

As you can see in the time lapse, the road itself is signed as a bike route and has very nice wide shoulders with few manhole covers or drainage grates to get in the way. Transitions onto the Centre Creek Crossing are quite smooth.  Aside from the hill up to Highway #1 at the eastern end, the gradients are very low. A large portion of the road is paved with a "quiet" pavement. It has less sand and more stone than regular pavement, which reduces noise. I was worried, at first, that this would make for an uncomfortable bike ride.  Luckily, that wasn't the case. I found the "quiet" pavement offered better drainage than on regular roads. There was almost no standing water and traction was good.

One thing to be aware of is the speed of the passing cars. The speed limit is 80 km/h for the majority of the route, but with the wide shoulders it doesn't pose much of a problem as there is lots of room. The noise from approaching cars is reduced due to the style of pavement, so certain cars could sneak up on you. The west end of the route is still under construction, so watch out for the safety cones that cause the road to narrow.

There are only two traffic intersections to navigate and both are at the start and end of the route. No need to worry about cars pulling out in front of you.

Conclusions

After only three rides over the SFPR, I'm ready to make the permanent switch. My usual route included Fraser Highway and King George Boulevard. Although it takes me about 15 minutes longer to use the SFPR, the lack of wide shoulders and a heavy traffic volume on my regular commute, makes the switch an easy decision.

I hope you will choose the SFPR the next time you commute to work by bike, or if you want to access the wonderful cycling the the Fraser Valley has to offer.