Friday July 14, 2023 | SOOKE, BC [Updated July 20, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
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After many years of politicking, engineering, construction and public angst about unsafe driving conditions on Highway 14 — not to mention the road crashes and near misses and interruptions to businesses and travel commitments — the new four lane section from Glinz Lake Road to Connie Road is now officially open.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) announcement was made today July 14, 2023.
The completion of this section of provincial highway that better connects the Sooke region to all parts east — including Langford and beyond to Saanich and Victoria — marks the conclusion of a major chapter in BC politics on Vancouver Island. It’s also a major feat of engineering and roadworks of which MOTI can be duly proud.
Sooke has pretty much been a one-way-in one-way-out community, dependent on Highway 14 for all of its transportation needs. That has especially impacted commuters, businesses and tourists when the road has had to be closed during vehicle crash incidents.
One summer the road was closed for many hours due to a forest fire right up against the highway. And another time strong winds pulled a hydro pole down across the highway, ironically even locking the Premier Sooke-side when that happened.
Potential road issues:
The ride through is on new pavement but it may not come with smooth sailing. There is a short stretch on a relatively steeper grade that has rock cliffs on both sides.
Even with a median barrier between the westbound and eastbound lanes, in winter the road conditions may become worrisome if the surface becomes more icy.
But it will be several months until that become a full-face test for the road and the drivers. Last winter there were lane-marking issues during snowy weather, but now the highway will probably allow for proper de-icing and be adequately lit.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has provided a statement regarding winter road conditions:
“The ministry’s maintenance contractor takes proactive measures to ensure ice will not build up on paved highway surfaces, including those on Highway 14. The timing for preventative work is determined by monitoring weather forecasts and testing the temperature of the pavement surface. Anti-icing compound is applied in advance of conditions that may otherwise result in ice formation. The proximity of median barriers, foliage or a rockface to a paved surface does not impact whether or not ice may form on a paved surface or whether anti-icing compound is applied.”
The ministry adds that they will “continually monitor conditions on this stretch”.
Public engagement:
It could be said that improvements to Highway 14 are integral to then local MLA John Horgan’s political career in the west shore. He was the MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca from 2005 to 2023.
As far back as 2008, a local publication MapleLine Magazine* featured on its first back cover about driving “the Sooke Road” (Highway 14) safely, as it was such a top-of-mind concern for many residents. (*= MapleLine Magazine later became Sooke Voice News, then West Shore Voice News then today’s Island Social Trends.)
That was a natural journalistic response to the level of importance of the highway; not only had long-time residents of Sooke complained about the unsafe drive on Highway 14 for many years, sadly in January 2009 a local young woman lost her life in that very point of Highway 14 near the 17 Mile Pub and Connie Road in a significant vehicle incident. That incident could be blamed in part on the curvy turns of the road, poor lighting, and considerable lack of signage to guide drivers through that section. It’s about that time that ICBC likely started taking a more serious look at the dangers of driving Highway 14.
Much public engagement over many years — including community-level and MOTI-led meetings — debated the issues about Highway 14 road safety and eventually the potential options for improvement.
Economic impacts:
Another major concern about the many years of Highway 14 unreliability was that of businesses experiencing supply chain interruptions if highway travel was delayed or unavailable.
Reliance on one route in-and-out was also an issue for people getting to and from the larger urban areas and the airport and ferry beyond; many times meetings and appointments would be missed.
Technically speaking, for Sooke the Highway 14 route is is still one-way in/out. But with traffic flow options are now opened up (e.g. single-lane if there’s an accident, fallen tree, or other concern in one lane). Many local businesses in Sooke may well now boast smooth-sailing between their location and all parts east.
A day for celebration:
Today’s leadership in the NDP Government made a relatively quiet announcement about the opening of the new four-lane section on Highway 14. The current Transportation and Infrastructure Minister is Rob Fleming (in Horgan’s cabinet from day one, and continuing in Eby’s cabinet), whose ministry issued a news release around 9 am this morning, saying all lanes will be open by mid day.
Island Social Trends drove that section of Highway 14 yesterday; speed signage and other markers were still hooded with black covers. A plethora of orange traffic cones were still guiding traffic through a maze of various pathways through what was still a construction zone but with line-painting done.
As of today the posted speed limit has been restored to its previous 60 km/h, up from a construction speed limit of 50 km/h. New median barriers and painted lines are in place.
Back in April at a media session on a different topic at an elementary school in Victoria, Fleming told Island Social Trends that Highway 14 was essentially old news, and meanwhile was excited about the new upcoming improvements for the Malahat.
But locally this is a big day in Sooke region history… a date many folks might mark on their calendars or sketch into memory. How fitting to open a new stretch of Highway 14 on the 14th of the month, mid-year, on a bright sunny summer’s day.
Anyone who has lived through the years of work to this day will probably experience a mixture of near disbelief together with being pleased and having a sense of conclusion around this major infrastructure improvement.
The MLA-elect for Langford-Juan de Fuca reposted Fleming’s news in social media today; Ravi Parmar will be sworn in as MLA on July 28.
Speed limit at 60 km/h:
Some people are a bit surprised that the speed limit has been posted at 60 km/h. Most drivers manage 70 to 80 km/h if they know the highway well. School buses are required to max out at 60 km/h.
Even with all the new improvements, the highway still has a lot of curves and some new variation in grade. Drivers will likely find 60 km/h frustrating but safety is always the MOTI’s top concern.
Web cams & signal lights:
There are now four Drive BC web-cams on Highway 14 to keep an eye on traffic heading both west and east. Sooke lies to the west, and Langford/Victoria lies to the east. Gillespie connects travellers to East Sooke.
There are no signal lights along the four-lane sections of Highway 14 (the new section or the one that already borders into Langford). IT remains unanswered, so far, whether a significant recent change to the timing of the signalized intersection lighting at Highway 14 and Happy Valley Road has anything to do with any expected changes in traffic flow.
Minor chapters to follow:
Some aspects of these Highway 14 improvements that are still to come include BC Transit bus stops and a 45-stall park-and-ride, and safety consideration for cyclists. MOTI said in today’s news release that these improvements are expected in the coming weeks.
===== RELATED:
Langford Traffic: slow-going Hwy 14 left-turn lane at Happy Valley Rd (July 13, 2023)
Progress grinding along in Hwy 14 construction zone (December 15, 2022)
Hwy 14: Nov 29 winter construction zone update (November 29, 2022)
Lighting being added to Hwy 14 construction zone (November 25, 2022)
Highway 14 upgrade at Connie Rd & Glinz Lake Rd continues to Fall 2022 (July 22, 2022)
Highway 14 construction milestone on July 19 (July 18, 2022)
Highway 14 upgrade continues into Summer 2022 (May 24, 2022)
Gridlock on Highway 14 while Premier in Sooke (April 27, 2019)
Horgan delivers for Sooke: Highway 14 to be widened near 17-Mile (April 23, 2019)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
News of the west shore region of Greater Victoria has been covered by Island Social Trends since 2008, through the publication series MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), and Island Social Trends (since 2020).
Editor and publisher for the full publication series has been Mary P Brooke.
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