Which way out of Richmond: the tunnel or the Alex Fraser?
Either one gets you there; choose by where in Richmond you start. Both crossings put you on Highway 10 in Delta, and Highway 10 runs east through Surrey and Cloverdale, where it’s called 56 Avenue, before it becomes the Langley Bypass and reaches the shop.
| Starting area | Roads out of Richmond | Crossing |
|---|---|---|
| Steveston and the south-west | Steveston Highway onto Highway 99 south, then the Ladner Trunk Road exit | George Massey Tunnel |
| City Centre and east Richmond | Westminster Highway to the East-West Connector (Highway 91), south to the Highway 10 East exit | Alex Fraser Bridge |
In a straight line, Richmond City Hall on No. 3 Road is about 36 km from Unit 312, and Steveston Village about 39 km.
What’s changing at the tunnel
The province’s Highway 99 Tunnel Program opened a new Steveston Interchange on the Richmond side in 2025. The tunnel itself dates from 1959 and has four lanes, and its replacement, an eight-lane immersed tube tunnel with no toll, is due to open in 2031.
How the Alex Fraser’s lanes switch
A movable barrier on the bridge gives the fourth of its seven lanes to northbound traffic from 4:30 to 11:30 am on weekdays, and to southbound traffic the rest of the time, TranBC explains. A weekday morning drop-off heading south crosses with three lanes your way; after 11:30, and all weekend, you get four.
How does Richmond deal with snow and ice?
With salt and brine on a fixed network. Richmond’s snow and ice page says the City has 316 km of designated clearing and salting routes, and that side streets aren’t part of them.
Before forecast snow, crews start up to 12 hours ahead, laying liquid brine or salt so frost and ice don’t bond to the road. Sand only goes into the mix below about –6 °C, because rock salt stops working well at that point. The City stockpiles 400 to 600 tonnes of salt and secures access to 1,200 to 1,500 tonnes a year, based on a five-year average. It also notes that snow storms typically arrive about 12 times a season and turn to rain within hours or days.
For a Richmond car, that makes salt, not gravel, the main winter exposure on home roads, since sand only joins the mix in hard cold. LLumar Platinum PPF and a coating both give salt something other than clear coat to sit on, and the shop’s angle on that is set out in whether PPF protects against road salt.
How does Richmond’s climate differ from the valley’s?
Richmond is cooler in summer and drier over the year than the valley the shop sits in. Vancouver International Airport, on Sea Island in Richmond, has 1981–2010 normals from Environment and Climate Change Canada; Abbotsford Airport stands in for the Fraser Valley.
| 1981–2010 normal | Vancouver Int’l A (Richmond) | Abbotsford A |
|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high, July | 22.2 °C | 24.0 °C |
| Days above 30 °C | 0.3 | 8.7 |
| Precipitation, year | 1,189 mm | 1,538 mm |
| Days with frost (low at or below 0 °C) | 40.9 | 52.9 |
| Snowfall, year | 38.1 cm | 55.2 cm |
Richmond gets fewer frosts and less snow than the valley, but the City still plans for around a dozen snow storms a season, and forecast snow brings out the brine trucks. In summer, heat-rejecting film matters less on a car that stays near the coast. LLumar’s spec sheet puts ATC’s total solar energy rejection at 28–44% and IRX’s at 50–62%, while every shade of both blocks more than 99% of UV.
What should a Richmond driver book?
Start with protection against salt and stone on the highway legs you drive, then add tint for UV, glare and privacy. These are the starting prices.
| Job | From | Time at the shop |
|---|---|---|
| Partial Front PPF (bumper, headlights, mirrors, part of hood and fenders) | $850 | Usually one day |
| Full Front PPF (hood and both fenders covered completely) | $1,550 | One or two days |
| Rear-glass tint, sedan or pickup, LLumar ATC | $240 | 2 to 4 hours for a full tint |
| Rear-glass tint, SUV or wagon, LLumar ATC | $260 | 2 to 4 hours for a full tint |
| Graphene-ceramic coating | Quoted per vehicle | 1 to 3 days |
IRX nano-ceramic and AIR clear ceramic are tint upgrades priced per package; the trade-off between them and the dyed base film is laid out on ceramic window tint. Paint is decontaminated, and corrected if it needs it, before any PPF goes on.
How do you plan the trip from Richmond?
Book ahead through the quote form, naming the car and the jobs, and pick a drop-off that suits the bridge or tunnel you’ll use. Most tint is finished the same day; film and coating jobs mean leaving the car.
Unit 312 is staffed from 9:00 until 17:00, Monday through Saturday, and 604 534 6433 takes calls and texts. Once tinted, leave the windows closed for 3 to 5 days; a light haze or a few water pockets during that first week will dry out by themselves.