It’s hard to fault the successive governments that have poured tens of millions of dollars into “fixing the Malahat” over the years. But the complete shutdown of the highway on Thursday illustrates yet again that there’s some kind of policy failure taking place on that mountain.
No matter how many improvement projects the Ministry of Transportation announces, and they’ve announced a lot, that stretch of road can handle the traffic volume only up to a point before something gives.
It’s usually drivers’ concentration. But whatever the reason for Thursday’s crash, the Malahat is one of the few places where a collision can instantly isolate an entire region. On top of the injuries suffered, tens of thousands of people were inconvenienced in countless different ways.
The shutdown was one of the longest, but they are by no means uncommon. The ministry’s running tally going back several years shows they happen about once a month. They last an average of two hours. That’s a terrible record for any stretch of road, let alone a piece of the Trans-Canada Highway. It’s quite telling that the average has remained constant despite all the roadwork over the years.
The money being spent isn’t wasted. There’s no doubt lives have been saved with all the new median strips and widening. But the sudden shutdowns with all the cascading negative consequences continue.
The fact they’re happening despite a constant stream of improvements proves the gap between intentions and reality. A review of highways announcements shows B.C. has committed $65 million to Malahat road improvements in the past 17 years, about $50 million of it in the past four years, with some federal help as well. It’s been a more or less continuous construction zone over that period.
We’re nearing a point where the Malahat is about as safe as it’s going to get. It’s time to shift the focus to minimizing the lengthy shutdowns that follow the inevitable crashes and are now a routine fact of Island life. That means a practical second, alternative route.
The last time the government tried to take an in-depth look at the Malahat, it didn’t go well. A consulting firm did a Malahat corridor study released in July 2007 that acknowledged the route was under pressure, but minimized all the problems. It declared that the crash rate was relatively low, there are only “periods of minor congestion” and capacity was not a current concern.
“Significant upgrades are not required at this time. Capacity and safety are at acceptable levels, and given the relative infrequency of closures, it would be difficult over the short to medium term to economically justify a major highway project to primarily resolve reliability issues,” said the report.
Based on those findings, then-highways minister Kevin Falcon said: “Overall, the Malahat is performing well and can handle current capacity.”
That was a dubious proposition. If there was no problem, why was the study ordered in the first place? And why did the government feel the need to keep pouring money into road projects on the mountain for years after it was pronounced safe?
In 2012, $8 million was committed for medians. In 2013, $15 million more was earmarked for widening and more medians. In 2017, another $34 million ($14 million from Ottawa) was committed to more widening.
The study did accomplish two things. It helped lay the groundwork for B.C. Transit’s bus run to Duncan, now in its 10th year.
And it put on the record some alternatives. Some of them are just dreaming on paper. Concepts such as two bigger ferries on the Mill Bay route, E&N Rail service, and a bridge across Saanich Inlet were sketched out. That’s likely as far as they’ll ever go.
But some of them need a closer look. There are various ideas of new alignments over all or part of the Malahat that include everything from using the E&N right-of-way or the watershed route to turning the Circle Route (Victoria-Port Renfrew-Lake Cowichan) into a major highway.
They all come with nine- or 10-figure cost estimates. But the need for two distinct highway options between the capital and the rest of the Island looks more like an inevitable necessity with every passing year.
