SURREY (NEWS1130) – It will be a smooth surface when BC’s newest highway opens Saturday,  but the talk from politicians on the eve of the first traffic to use the South Fraser Perimeter Road was less about easing congestion, and more about jobs and trade.

A 10-kilometre stretch will open between 176 and 136 Streets in Surrey. It’s a stretch that will, at first, open with just two lanes instead of four for those who want to take the Pattullo Bridge and avoid Port Mann tolls.

BC Transportation Minister Mary Polak stresses, though,  that the tolled option will be the better route.

“That doesn’t mean that people won’t still choose to use the free alternatives. That’s part of our tolling policy. With this new route from the South Fraser, that commute over to the free alternatives will be made much easier.”

Polak says the construction is one of the reasons why the tolls at the Port Mann Bridge are half-price for the first year. “When it fully opens, then you’ll have traffic flows that are fully and completely improved. For the time being, there’s only going to be the partial improvements.”

During an official ceremony Friday, both Polak and Federal Trade Minister Ed Fast spent much of the time promoting the trade benefits of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, which will be known as Highway 17.

“The South Fraser Perimeter Road, the Port Mann Bridge, and infrastructure across this province… we’re really going to prove the words of the job plan, that ‘Canada starts here,” says Polak.