While I agree transportation on Sooke Road could improve, a more progressive approach is needed than, as Mike Hicks says (and Langford Mayor Stew Young agrees) “four lane it all the way from Langford to Sooke.”
This type of short-term thinking will surely lead to more cars on the road and eventually more congestion as traffic bottlenecks into Langford – meaning more accidents and more road closures.
A more progressive approach for Sooke Road would be to add another lane for carpoolers and improve public transportation.
There are many people who could benefit from an express route to the locations of their work such as Dockyard or downtown Victoria. Both of these approaches are likely to reduce the amount of cars on the road and improve travel.
The biggest problems on Sooke Road are when the road gets shut down due to an accident, or when there is congestion during peak times.
The real congestion happens through Langford and four-laning Sooke Road all the way will likely make this worse.
Hicks’ approach is too individualistic and falls short of a big-picture vision of the future that considers the environmental consequences of more cars on the road.
There are many places that use carpool lanes and have good public transit to address traffic concerns. It is almost as if there should be a study of Highway 14 to look at progressive approaches to address traffic concerns, but as Hicks questions, “What’s the point of doing a study?”
Peter McKay
Sooke