It’s not often we use this space to pat politicians on the back.
But District of Sooke council showed forward thinking when it decided to resurface Brownsey Boulevard to Goodmere Road as part of the multi-million-dollar roundabout project.
Now it needs to go one step further and push Lincroft Road through to Brownsey.
The Brownsey Boulevard decision appeared to be a no-brainer from the start. After all, why would council create Brownsey Boulevard only to have it go a distance of 100 metres or so and stop? By connecting to Goodmere, council has made a good decision, but only 50 per cent of it makes sense.
The other part of the 50 per cent equation? Finish up the Lincroft linkage to Brownsey. It’s a project that will need to be completed sooner rather than later and it will be a lot more costly as time passes.
With the link up, large transport trucks delivering goods to Sooke Centre would still need to use the roundabout, but could access Brownsey and Lincroft and wouldn’t need to transverse other parts of town. After delivering goods, they could head up Brownsey and out of town, nice and quick.
Perhaps more importantly, the project could be done simultaneously with the roundabout project, costing less now since the crew and equipment are already here.
The Brownsey roundabout and town centre project is costing taxpayers $9.1 million ($3.1 million from the district). It’s fusing Sooke Road, Brownsey Boulevard and the Evergreen Centre entrance into one loop. Other improvements, from Otter Point to Church roads, include new sidewalks, crosswalks, lighting, curbs, shoulder bike lanes and bus shelters.
The district has done a tremendous job is coordinating this project. One small step with Lincroft Road would make it almost perfect.