Transportation and Transit
Starting immediately, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will initiate construction of a number of improvements to boost safety, reduce congestion, and keep people moving along the Highway 14 corridor.
“For too long, people on the West Shore have been frustrated by mounting congestion and traffic bottlenecks,” said Premier John Horgan, MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca. “Highway 14 is an essential connection for people on southern Vancouver Island, and we’re making travel safer and less stressful so people can spend more time with their families, instead of sitting in traffic.”
$10 million in immediate upgrades will kick off the first of multiple phases of safety, transit and congestion improvements:
- Three bus pullouts on both sides of Highway 14 at the West Shore Parkway, Laidlaw Road and Harbourview Road;
- A bus-queue jump lane at Jacklin Road;
- New safety signs at three locations (Kangaroo Road, Gillespie Road, and Parkland Road);
- A slow-moving vehicle pullout east of Muir Creek, between Sooke and French Beach;
- A new rest area at the Sombrio lookout; and
- A new two-lane bridge on Gillespie Road, which is an important alternative route to Highway 14.
Design work for the Sooke River Road intersection upgrade is also getting underway immediately.
“Accelerating safety projects on Highway 14 ensures everyone, whether drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or transit users, can move around the Capital Regional District quickly and safely whatever their preferred travel mode,” said Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Local residents and businesses have been asking for traffic improvements in this growing region, and we’re responding by getting to work right away on a suite of upgrades that will have big impact, quickly, with more improvements on the horizon.”
The next phases of work, to be announced later this year based on community feedback and further engineering work, will focus on major intersection upgrades, passing opportunities, improving the highway alignment, widening highway shoulders for cyclists and additional transit-related upgrades.
“These safety improvements will greatly benefit residents, local businesses, and the many visitors who come to experience all that the West Shore has to offer,” said Mitzi Dean, MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin.
The ministry is committed to ensuring traffic delays related to construction are kept minimal, particularly in peak commuter periods. Motorists are asked to obey traffic control personnel, watch for workers, and check for up-to-date traffic advisories at www.drivebc.ca
Two backgrounders follow.
