HUB cyclists keep families in mind riding through Aldergrove<\/p>\n
Published 8:00 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026<\/p>\n
On a recent weekend, volunteers with the Langley committee of HUB Cycling set out on a 28-kilometre loop through Aldergrove, riding the same roads families use to reach schools, the recreation centre, or Aldergrove Regional Park.<\/p>\n
The route rode through 240th and 272nd Streets, following Robertson Crescent to the north and 8th Avenue to the south.<\/p>\n
For Langley HUB members John Evanochko and Ben Bobic, the ride was about understanding what it feels like for families to pedal together, or what a child may feel riding through the community, which still has gaps in the cycling network.<\/p>\n
Those gaps matter most near schools, for example, routes connecting to Otter Elementary, Coghlan Fundamental, and D.W. Poppy Secondary.<\/p>\n
For students hoping to bike, a missing shoulder or disappearing bike lane can mean being pushed directly into traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a family were riding, sometimes they\u2019re going to want to ride side by side,\u201d said Bobic.<\/p>\n
When bike routes end abruptly, he said, \u201cthey\u2019re shot out onto the road. So it can be scary for families.\u201d<\/p>\n
In rural Aldergrove, many roads are posted at 60 km\/h. At those speeds, drivers are required to leave 1.5 metres when passing cyclists.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few of the roads have shoulders that are that wide,\u201d explained Bobic.<\/p>\n
Bobic said he has spent considerable effort pressing the Township to address safety concerns along 272 Street, including requesting that it be re-designated as an official Township bicycle route.<\/p>\n
The corridor was included in the Township\u2019s Ultimate Cycling Network approved in 2013. \u201cBut in recent years, the plan seems to have been left behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In September 2024, Bobic emailed the Township\u2019s engineering department advocating for a safer bike route along 272 Street.<\/p>\n
The email was sent during the ongoing Transportation and Mobility Strategy process, which aimed to gather recommendations and highlight safety issues as part of updates to the Township of Langley\u2019s Master Transportation Plan.<\/p>\n
Bobic argued that the northbound stretch between 24 and 28 Avenues has no shoulder and cannot meet the province\u2019s 1.5-metre safe-passing requirement for roads posted at 60 km\/h.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to increased truck traffic near the Aldergrove Waste Transfer Station.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis part of 272 Street may need further measures to separate bicycle and vehicle traffic, because this is direct route for children to be able to ride from Aldergrove to Aldergrove Regional Park,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Evanochko believes part of the solution is education \u2014 for both cyclists and motorists. Many drivers, he said, don\u2019t realize they are allowed to cross a solid line to safely pass a vulnerable road user when it\u2019s clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public needs to be made aware of what they\u2019re okay to do as motorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
HUB\u2019s local committee, one of 10 across Metro Vancouver, works with the Township of Langley and Langley City staff to push for safer infrastructure, but it also promotes practical education.<\/p>\n
Through programs offered by its Vancouver-based central office, trained volunteers can teach Grade 5 and 6 students how to read traffic and ride assertively.<\/p>\n
The challenge, Evanochko said, is funding.<\/p>\n
There are lower-cost options. Bobic points to \u201cbike buses,\u201d where groups of children ride to school together with parent volunteers.<\/p>\n
The model is growing in other municipalities and, he said, creates safety in numbers while building confidence for families.<\/p>\n
For HUB\u2019s volunteers, the goal is to make it normal for families to choose a bike for short trips \u2014 and safe enough that they don\u2019t have to think twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI glance in open garages and almost every garage has got at least one or two bikes hanging on the wall,\u201d Evanochko said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that people don\u2019t want to ride \u2014 they just feel uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUB cyclists keep families in mind riding through Aldergrove Published 8:00 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026 On a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-517643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}