Construction will begin this fall on a partial cloverleaf interchange that’s expected to improve safety and reduce congestion at McKenzie Avenue and the Trans-Canada Highway, Transportation Minister Todd Stone announced Tuesday.
Stone said the selected design was the preferred option of 75 per cent of the people who took part in public consultations.
“No one wants to see accidents and injuries happen and this option translates into what we believe will be $4 million in safety benefits over the other options in the first 20 years alone,” he said.
Stone said the absence of stop lights for vehicles turning left onto McKenzie also means the interchange will be more efficient than the diamond interchange option and will save motorists time on their commute. “This means people will be able to leave a little bit later, spend a little bit more time with loved ones in the morning and get home for dinner a little bit earlier in the evening.”
Stone said there will be benefits for pedestrians and cyclists. An existing pedestrian bridge across the highway will be replaced with a new overpass that will be twice as wide and closer to the intersection.
A second pedestrian and cycling overpass with gentle grades will cross McKenzie and link with a wider Galloping Goose Regional Trail.
The $85-million project, which is slated for completion in late 2018, also includes bus lanes, transit priority signals and better connections to bus stops. The design includes a corridor on the north side of the Trans-Canada that could accommodate light rail transit in the future.
The announcement received mixed reviews from neighbourhood groups.
Rob Wickson, president of Gorge Tillicum community association, panned the decision, in part because of its negative impact on the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly Cuthbert Holmes Park.
“I’m disappointed because I think that we can do better,” he said. “This design uses 1.4 hectares of park space to start off with.”
But George Blogg, president of the Portage Inlet Sanctuary Colquitz Estuary Society, called the project a “win-win” for commuters, local residents and the environment.
“We looked at the loop option as being the best environmental option because it has the least stop-and-go, the least pollution,” he said.
Blogg said the province has pledged to replace lost parkland. “So actually the park size isn’t changing. It may be optimistic, but the improvements to the flow of water and trails that can be put into the project, if done properly, should be a plus.”
NDP MLA Rob Fleming acknowledged that the interchange will reduce congestion and improve safety, but he warned that the government’s failure to invest in public transit threatens to undercut any benefits.
“We may well be getting into a project on the Trans-Canada Highway that is going to open when we’re seeing less and less transit funding in our community, and there will be fewer buses on the road to take advantage of a new intersection that has been constructed,” he said.
Edward Pullman, president of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, said he was generally pleased with the project’s design. But he also urged the province to improve public transit by approving the Victoria Regional Transit Commission’s request for an additional two-cent gas tax. Pullman said the money could be used to provide a rapid transit service between the West Shore and downtown.
“I don’t think we’re really going to be addressing the issues of the congestion problem until we give motorists and folks living in the West Shore a better alternative for getting downtown,” he said. “I would say this project is incomplete without a rapid-transit component.”
The public will have a chance to see the final plan at an open house scheduled for May 18, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Parish Hall, 753 Burnside Rd. West.
