Tuesday December 17, 2019 ~ VICTORIA
~ West Shore Voice News
Improvements to the Malahat section of Highway 1 is the direction that the BC Government will go instead of creating a detour in that mountainous stretch of the highway north of Langford.
On Monday December 16, the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure (MOTI) announced that the BC Government has reviewed the report on potential emergency detour routes for longer-term closures of the Malahat (Highway 1) north of Greater Victoria.
The report determined feasible detour routes exist, and also detailed potential impacts to the community watershed and local environment. The potential inclusion of a Malahat detour was proposed in January 2019 to be part of the South Island Regional Transportation Strategy.
“Due to these community and environmental impacts, the focus of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will remain on improving safety on the existing Highway 1 route, so incidents that result in longer closures can be limited,” it was stated in a release from MOTI.
“The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility of a route that could make use of existing forestry resource roads, trails and/or Greater Victoria Water Supply Area maintenance roads, with limited investment and footprint changes,” it was stated in the release.
This study examined seven possible emergency detour routes that could be implemented during long highway closures. All routes were determined to have environmental, engineering, property and community disruption impacts – some to greater degrees than others.
Of the seven routes assessed, two were taken forward for capital cost estimates. Estimates ranged from $30 million for Option 1A Niagara Main, to $180 million for Option 2A, the Far West alignment.
Closures of the Malahat long enough to trigger a detour occur relatively infrequently, at approximately 1.1 incidents per year on average. Since 2009, there have been seven closures of the Malahat longer than four hours in duration.
After release of the report, there was some public response over whether speeding on the route is part of the problem.
MOTI says that in the event of a long highway closure, the Pacific Marine Circle Route is available as a detour, with a travel time of approximately 3.5 hours. However, once west of Sooke, that route on Highway 14 (called West Coast Road at that point) includes single-lane sections and some small bridges in rough terrain which could be unexpected if not a challenging driving scenario for many urban drivers or those not familiar with the forested region.
Juan de Fuca Regional Director Mike Hicks points out there is spotty cell phone coverage in much of the remote section of the Pacific Marine Circle Route.
As thousands of people drive the Malahat every day, the Province is committed to improving safety on the main route in and out of Greater Victoria, says MOTI. “Work is underway on a project to widen Highway 1 between Leigh Road and the West Shore Parkway, which will include adding a centre median barrier.”
The Province is also looking at adding 1.5 kilometres of median barrier to the highway north of the West Shore Parkway to just north of Finlayson Arm Road. Engineering work is underway.
Langford Mayor Stew Young says he is looking forward to the fuller South Island Regional Transportation Strategy. It was first announced in January 2019 with a target of September 2019 release. Now that MOTI report release is apparently set for spring 2020.
========= Links:
The Malahat Segment Detour Route Planning report is available online: www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/reports-and-reference/reports-and-studies/vancouver-island-south-coast/highway_1_malahat_segment_emergency_detour_route_planning.pdf