Southbound Hwy 1 bus lane project gets federal funding

For the west shore the long-awaited southbound bus lane project is a winning piece of resolving the commuter traffic snarl. For the provincial ministry of transportation it’s a helpful piece in the south island transportation strategy idea that is still under development. And federally it shows interest in south Vancouver Island projects.

The northbound bus lane was completed a few months ago, saving about 10 minutes of commuting time for the approximately 1,700/hour commuters through the Douglas corridor during peak times.

As Langford Mayor Stew Young points out, there hasn’t been a lot of federal infrastructure funding for island projects in the last few years.

Today, Langford’s mayor who has been proactive for years on improving commuter flow between the west shore and the core areas of Saanich and Victoria says: “Yes, any improvements from Langford to Victoria — even if it’s partial — is good, as long as the complete fix comes soon.”Langford’s mayor says he’s looking for those median barriers to be constructed on Highway 1 between Leigh Road and West Shore Parkway as well as some progress with reinstating commuter action on the E&N rail line (preferably electric buses that can go off-rail onto roads).”Knowing the timeline to get us out of gridlock,” is a key concern for Stew Young, referring to the BC government’s promise of an overall South Vancouver Island Transportation Strategy (as announced by Minister BC Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure Claire Trevena in January).

Yesterday, Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough stepped first to the microphone in cold Wednesday noon-hour weather. She announced the federal government’s contribution of $4.9 million to the $16 million southbound bus lane infrastructure project. The BC Government is contributing $11,080,000 as the balance and larger share.There was no specific financial mention of any BC Transit or City of Victoria funding, but improvements generally come through more buses/routes in service as well as landscaping, new sidewalks, and provision of traffic signal management.

“Repairs and upgrades to roads — as well as public transit and waterways — are part of the federal government’s $160 billion overall commitment to supporting livable, sustainable communities,” Qualtrough told media on Wednesday.  She described the long-expected and awaited southbound bus-only lane along highway 1 (Burnside Bridge to Tolmie Ave in Victoria) as productive for families by reducing commuter wait times.

BC Transportation & Infrastructure Minister Claire Trevena spoke at the podium about “working together for solutions along Highway 1”, saying “Everyone knows how bad that traffic can be.”In addition to the practical claims of drivers and transit users shaving time off their commute, Trevena added: “This new southbound bus lane is another step towards getting people moving more efficiently along the Highway 1/Douglas Street corridor. Not only will it save time for people taking transit, but it will help reduce congestion for people driving by moving buses from the travelling lanes.”

From the Victoria Regional Transit Commission perspective, said Chair Susan Brice: “Each of these projects is contributing to our overall goal of bringing our customers in and out of the West Shore more efficiently.”Brice says that ridership has increased between 34% and 40% since 2016 on the west shore routes. The #50 Bus serving Langford is the second most-used route in the BC Transit network, said BC Transit Planning Manager James Wadsworth in a presentation to Langford council on March 4. The popular route presently handles 8,800 customers per day in 173 trips. Route 39 carries 3,400 passengers per day in 70 trips.”Route 50 is where all the action is happening in terms of bus lanes,” Wadsworth told Langford council on Monday night.

The new BC Transit Westhills depot in Langford that was officially opened in 2017 has been a tremendous boon to the west shore. From there Route #39 from the West Shore to UVic carries 3,400 passengers per day on 70 trips.The Westhills depot has also facilitated a version of the #61 Sooke bus as the #65 which utilizes the West Shore Parkway over from Sooke Road to bring riders through Westhills in Langford before heading downtown (presently carrying 300 people per day in four trips). The dockyard route #46 into Esquimalt has fewer riders (281 passengers per day on 16 trips) but serves a need, said Wadsworth in his presentation to council.

View Royal: BC Transit also discussed on Monday night a partial dedicated bus lane (375 m inbound and 510 m outbound) on the Island Highway through View Royal (section between 6 Mile to the Colwood Interchange) including transit signal priority at the 6-Mile intersection and Colwood interchange. A new 1.8 m bike lane will be added in both directions. View Royal is on board for this, says BC Transit, with senior level government funding being awaited to begin the project.

In Colwood, a northbound queue jump lane is planned on Sooke Road at the Colwood Corners intersection at Goldstream Ave. The plan includes a southbound bus lane for north and south of Wale Road (commercial area), and a northbound bus lane for north and south of Ocean Boulevard (near Westshore Parks & Rec and the Q Centre).More park and ride options are in the works to help support this, says Wadsworth. Of nine possible locations that were identified, the recommended locations were given as Six Mile Road (in View Royal), Luxton Fairgrounds (in Langford but which would serve Sooke commuters heading to the core), and Station Ave (in central Langford).

BC Transit’s 25-year transit plan for the region identifies strategic changes to the transit network and supporting infrastructure. They identify four layers of transit service: rapid transit, frequent transit, local transit, and target services. The goal of the Victoria Region Transit Future Plan is to reach 12% transit mode share by 2038, up from 6.5% as seen in 2011.The Victoria Regional Transit System carries 110,000 passengers per day. According to the CRD’s Origin Destination Survey, in 2011, 6.5% of residents used transit as their main mode of transportation to travel around the region. By 2017, 7.8% of residents were using transit as their main mode, showing a 20% increase in transit mode share over six years.While she was in attendance at yesterday’s southbound lane announcement, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps was not one of the speakers. Her city will benefit from lessened traffic congestion as much as the west shore benefits from speedier access to and from the Victoria core.

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Background:

• Through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities.
• $28.7 billion of this funding is supporting public transit projects, including $5 billion available for investment through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.