Monday July 18, 2022 | SOOKE, BC [Last update: 10 pm July 19, 2022]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Commuters can expect delays along Highway 14 on Tuesday July 19, 2022, as crews shift traffic to two newly constructed lanes between Connie Road and Glinz Lake Road.
That 2.3-km construction zone has been in place for a couple of years now, with the road development landscape changing by the day, the week, the month, the season.
Big day on Tuesday July 19:
Following the morning rush hour, eastbound and westbound traffic will be directed to the new lanes, while workers place delineators and complete line painting.
This work is expected to be complete by the end of the day.
New directions:
Drivers accessing Gillespie Road will be directed to the new Gillespie connector, which passes under the newly constructed bridge. This routing will be the final configuration for westbound traffic.
Tuesday’s traffic change marks the final phase of the Connie Road to Glinz Lake Road portion of the project. The 2.3-kilometre route will end up being four lanes, says the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, offering improved safety and supporting the expected population increases on south Vancouver Island.
Completion ‘just in time’:
For this summer season, the opening of the new highway features comes just in time for this year’s Sooke Fine Arts Show (running July 21 to August 1) and for the bulk of this year’s summer tourism season in Sooke and recreational points west of the town in Otter Point up to Port Renfrew.
Today Premier John Horgan (who is MLA for the Langford-Juan de Fuca riding, which includes Sooke) issued a statement about five years of major achievements under this NDP provincial government. Horgan is retiring from leading the BC NDP, he says by Fall 2022 (though the BC NDP officially says a new leader will be in place by December 3, 2022).
Today the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says there are further construction phases remaining of that stretch of Highway 14.
The latest update on the MOTI Highway 14 Corridor improvement project page is from January 2022. Island Social Trends has asked for a detailed update (expected on Friday July 22).
Easing traffic in-and-out:
Highway 14 is the one route in-and-out of Sooke which lies 20 km to the west of Langford, and 35 km out from the Victoria core area.
Gridlocks on Highway 14 during inclement weather and when vehicle incidents happen have had deleterious impacts on commuters, travellers, and local businesses.
Overall, the growth of the Sooke community (especially its business profile) has been impaired for decades due to the unreliability of depending on one in/out route which also had some dangerous spots where crashes have happened.
Observe traffic personnel:
During the ongoing construction, drivers are reminded to drive for the conditions and to observe traffic personnel and signage.
Road information:
For up-to-date road closure information, drivers may follow @DriveBC on Twitter, or check: www.DriveBC.ca.
Local west shore traffic summary [Island Social Trends]
===== RELATED:
Premier Horgan on 5 years of delivering results for people (July 18, 2022) / link to come
Highway 14 upgrade continues into Summer 2022 (May 24, 2022)
Open house December 3 about Highway 14 improvements in 2020 (November 30, 2019)
Horgan delivers for Sooke: Highway 14 to be widened near 17-Mile (April 23, 2019)
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Mary P Brooke, Editor, Island Social Trends has been covering news of the Sooke and west shore regions since 2008. That began with MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), then the weekly print Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and then West Shore Voice News in print/PDF format (2014-2020), before relaunching to cover the full South Vancouver Island Region with the IslandSocialTrends.ca news portal in mid-2020.