This article is a valuable contribution, but I think the dichotomy between Core and West Shore is misplaced. The realistic immediate alternative to the McKenzie Interchange (and the other road / highway expansion schemes in the pipeline) is completing the Douglass / Hwy 1 bus lanes to the West Shore. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is already quietly doing designs for the Hwy1 shoulder bus lanes from Saanich Road to McKenzie. Funding is in place and construction could start within months. Shoulder bus lanes on the next 4.5 km from McKenzie to the 6 Mile Pub would cost a mere $15 million or so, and could be operating within 18-24 months once funding is in place. The BC Liberals promised 24/7 bus lanes all the way to the Westshore “soon” in 2008. I’m optimistic that with enough political pressure these bus lanes could be open within 24 months from now. Real transit oriented development requires good transit, and providing good transit to and from the core areas of the West Shore is an important way to spur the kind of changes needed there, and region wide. The best land use plan is a transportation plan, and given the climate crisis we need to plan for quick and impressive transit improvements region wide.
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Getting Victoria's growth right
in Focus Magazine Jan/Feb 2017
Posted
This article is a valuable contribution, but I think the dichotomy between Core and West Shore is misplaced. The realistic immediate alternative to the McKenzie Interchange (and the other road / highway expansion schemes in the pipeline) is completing the Douglass / Hwy 1 bus lanes to the West Shore. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is already quietly doing designs for the Hwy1 shoulder bus lanes from Saanich Road to McKenzie. Funding is in place and construction could start within months. Shoulder bus lanes on the next 4.5 km from McKenzie to the 6 Mile Pub would cost a mere $15 million or so, and could be operating within 18-24 months once funding is in place. The BC Liberals promised 24/7 bus lanes all the way to the Westshore “soon” in 2008. I’m optimistic that with enough political pressure these bus lanes could be open within 24 months from now. Real transit oriented development requires good transit, and providing good transit to and from the core areas of the West Shore is an important way to spur the kind of changes needed there, and region wide. The best land use plan is a transportation plan, and given the climate crisis we need to plan for quick and impressive transit improvements region wide.