Residents, businesses along Surrey-Langley SkyTrain route brace for change

Jon Hernandez · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 22, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Surrey, B.C., nonmigratory Donald Wade carries a camping seat from his Clayton condo to a sidewalk on Fraser Highway to ticker operation crews get to enactment connected the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.

Massive drills pierce done the crushed arsenic the elder watches from crossed the street.

"I'm truly fascinated by this benignant of stuff, due to the fact that I was successful dense manufacture each my life," Wade told CBC News.

The Surrey-Langley SkyTrain volition link King George Station to Langley City Centre. Two of the 8 further SkyTrain stations volition beryllium built successful Surrey's North Cloverdale and Clayton communities, traditionally agrarian areas adjacent farmland.

Residents similar Wade expects the SkyTrain volition dramatically alteration the community.

"All these trees volition beryllium coming retired of here, and this volition beryllium dense residential," said Wade.

Residents successful the assemblage person mixed feelings connected however the SkyTrain volition change the cloth of the community as dense operation enactment connected the task begins. The SkyTrain hold is expected to beryllium completed by 2029. Until then, businesses on Fraser Highway person to navigate lane closures, postulation diversions, and dense machinery.

WATCH | Residents brace for alteration successful Clayton and North Cloverdale up arsenic SkyTrain operation begins: 

At the fashionable Honeybee Centre, owner Cassie Gibeau says her customers person had difficulty accessing the store.

"People are complaining a small spot astir getting into Honeybee Centre and the magnitude of postulation connected Fraser here," said Gibeau.

Gibeau said it hasn't affected the bottommost line, and she hopes the SkyTrain proves to beryllium a short-term symptom for semipermanent gain.

"Being capable to get radical implicit present connected nationalist transit volition beryllium a immense bonus for us," she said.

CBC News spoke with different concern owners on Fraser Highway who declined interviews but had experienced drops successful business, and raised concerns astir the semipermanent interaction of the construction.

Residents split

In 2023, the state introduced a bill encouraging the instauration of much lodging adjacent transit hubs, referred to arsenic transit-oriented improvement areas. The state estimates it could adhd arsenic galore as 100,000 caller homes adjacent designated transit areas implicit the adjacent decade.

Residents similar Clayton renter Corey Richie fearfulness the SkyTrain volition urbanize a erstwhile agrarian area.

"In a nutshell, the metropolis has travel to the country," said Richie. "There's equine paddocks down the hill, there's a bee workplace down the hill, there's a cattle workplace up the hill, and the SkyTrain is going to tally done each of it," she said.

"The sound has arrived."

For Wade, portion helium expects much density successful the years to come, helium says helium hopes the SkyTrain improves livability.

"The accelerated transit is going to beryllium astonishing due to the fact that there's truthful galore cars, it volition let radical to permission their cars astatine home," helium said.