Thursday July 30, 2020 ~ LANGFORD, BC
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
To deal with an apparent traffic issue at the corner of Langford Lake Road and Alouette Drive in Westhills, the City of Langford has converted that intersection into a four-way stop. The work was done back in May.
The residential area developed at the beginning of the Westhills development (which started around 2010-2011) has for years been something of a major through-way for local and regional traffic, including commercial trucks and delivery vehicles, and the arrival/departure traffic to/from the nearby Belmont Secondary School at 3041 Langford Lake Road.
Alouette Drive is the extension of Glen Lake Road. The Alouette section is a narrow road (with paving stone parking along one side) which runs parallel to and between two major traffic arteries — Jacklin Road and West Shore Parkway — and carries constant traffic both day and night. Not much change in traffic flow has been seen since the 4-way stop installation, but there’s probably better attention paid to safety by most drivers now at that corner.
Concerns about the intersection:
As stated in the January 28, 2020 City of Langford Transportation & Public Works Committee agenda: “Residents have voiced concerns in the past with the perception of speeding in this area. In addition, with the opening of the Leigh Road connector in 2019 there has been a perceived increase in traffic in the area.”
Beyond (north of) Langford Lake Road, Alouette Drive becomes Freshwater Crescent which is entirely a residential area in the original Westhills neighbourhood that overlooks Langford Lake.
Roadworks done on May 8:
On a sunny dry Friday May 8 during Phase 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic, city crews were on site at the intersection to convert it from a 2-way stop into a 4-way stop. Since then, there appears to be more adherence to obeying the stop signage and less grief for drivers attempting to exit from Freshwater, but no reduction in through-traffic along the handy route.
Project cost:
Approval of the $4,000 project happened earlier this year with a recommendation from the city’s Transportation & Public Works Committee (chaired by Councillor Roger Wade) from their January 28, 2020 meeting, and then was approved in February by council.
The estimated expenditure was approved for the installation of two new stop signs and for the application of paint two new stop bars on Langford Lake Road.
Engineering Dept letter:
Local residents within the immediate area were advised by a letter dated April 30 of the roadworks scheduled for and to be done on Friday May 8.
The letter told residents that the change “is meant to discourage the use of this area as a ‘cut-through’ by non-local residents and slow that traffic that does drive through”.
Construction during COVID-19:
The City of Langford has continued with road maintenance and roadworks throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Langford is known and heralded for its fast permitting process; building construction has also proceeded with little to no interruption during the ongoing pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues worldwide. In BC a series of public health orders created a sector-by-sector lockdown in the early phase of the health crisis. Most sectors are now open and functioning under a complex set of guidelines, with physical distancing between people at the core of it all.
===== UPDATED/RELATED:
West Shore RCMP: incident at Alouette Dr & Langford Lake Rd (March 1, 2023)
