Completion of a two-year project to widen and realign a winding 1.4 kilometre-stretch of Highway 14 between Langford and Sooke has been delayed a few months, but the overall price tag has dropped to $77 million from $85 million.
Some tenders for parts of the job came in lower than expected, said Janelle Staite, the Ministry of Transportation’s deputy director for the south coast region.
The project, focused on the stretch of highway from Connie to Glinz Lake roads, was supposed to be done in late summer or early fall but was slowed by the pace of work on utilities, Staite said. “We had expected those to be done in April and they were just recently finished.”
The biggest challenge was in repositioning power poles, which turned out to be a sometimes complex and difficult task, she said. That, in turn, delayed some blasting and other work.
Staite said the project area was congested before work began, and the finished product will provide a “relief valve” for motorists. The stretch that’s being improved saw a number of collisions over the years, she said.
Traffic has been routed onto the new road alignment since July. It’s currently two lanes but is expected to be four lanes with a median barrier by November.
“That’s where drivers will see a really significant change, with the four lanes being in place,” Staite said. “We’ll still be going into the new year with some finishing touches that are less impactful from a traffic perspective.”
A park-and-ride is being built near the 17 Mile House Pub and Gillespie Road, where the turn onto the highway is being upgraded. An underpass will connect highway traffic to Gillespie Road, the link to Roche Cove, Metchosin and East Sooke.
