Langford Mayor Stew Young likened the road between Langford and Sooke to the Malahat, and said the only real solution to fixing it is to make it four lanes the entire way.
“There’s only one way in, one way out,” Young said.
“When you have an accident, the people have to sit around. When there’s a problem, people don’t get home.
“A lot of people from Sooke come out to Langford, work in Langford and then go back there.”
Young’s comments came as he praised the B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s announcement Wednesday that it is funding a study of that section of Highway 14, also known as Sooke Road, and will install an overhead sign to provide information to drivers heading toward Sooke.
“If the province is doing that, that’s perfect,” he said.
The sign will be located near Awsworth Road, about 500 metres from the future connection planned with West Shore Parkway. It will give details on such things as road conditions, lane closures and delays.
Work on the sign, which will cost approximately $250,000, will begin this month and should be finished in the summer. The $130,000 study of the route will run from this summer until spring 2017. It will include consideration of ways to increase transit use and cycling.
“The Highway 14 corridor is a critical link on southern Vancouver Island that serves a wide variety of commuters, commercial drivers, tourists and cyclists,” Transportation Minister Todd Stone said in a statement.
“In response to discussions with local community leaders, we will be looking at ways to improve this route, and the new overhead sign is an important first step.”
About 7,000 vehicles travel the highway between Langford and Sooke daily.
Young said he hopes a four-lane highway will be a prominent part of the highway study to be conducted. “If that’s what they’re studying, I can tell you save their money — just go four lanes all the way out and make sure the road is safer,” he said. “They really need to get it so it’s got some shoulders.”
There are occasional problems with trees falling on the highway, Young said.
“They’ve got to do some land management or tree management along it, too.”
Flooding issues also should be addressed, Young said.
Sooke Mayor Maja Tait said the last study of the highway was done about 15 years ago, and Sooke has grown considerably since then.
She said she has written letters to the ministry, seeking some form of signage to let motorists know if there are delays or other issues ahead of them.
“With the sign, at least, you have options as to whether or not you can detour or if you should spend time in Langford before travelling home,” Tait said.
“At least you have a sense of when things might be cleared up, or what [the problem] is.”
