Friday fix for Malahat traffic misery

After heavy congestion last week, cars will no longer be stopped for construction work

Traffic will no longer be stopped for Malahat highway construction on Fridays, after complaints about heavy congestion last week.

“Last Friday, we understand it was frustrating for drivers to wait up to two hours in traffic. Those waits were above and beyond what we expected,” said Janelle Erwin, the Transportation Ministry’s deputy director for the south Island.

In May, drivers were alerted that they could face delays of up to 20 minutes due to highway work. Most of the construction is taking place along the TransCanada Highway between Shawnigan Lake Road and Aspen Road, the busiest corridor between the north and south Island.

The $18.5-million project will expand five kilometres of highway to four lanes and add safety improvements such as median barriers.

Joanne Stephenson of Cobble Hill was among the commuters stranded on the packed highway for 2 1⁄2 hours on Friday. She tried to avoid the traffic by taking the Brentwood-Mill Bay ferry, but said she found another massive lineup.

“We who live in Shawnigan are caught up in this mess. My parents are in care and have doctors’ appointments, need shopping, food, and I need to be in Victoria for them,” she said.

Breanne Caddell said the traffic has added an hour to her husband’s commute from Mill Bay to Sidney each day. She has also been stuck in gridlock travelling to Langford and Victoria with a newborn and toddler.

“I have had to pull over to the side of the road and nurse my newborn and let my daughter pee. We are now having to avoid going to Langford on the weekends and during the week altogether, as the traffic is horrible no matter what time we go,” Caddell said.

A Facebook group called Shawnigan Cobble Hill Malahat Road Conditions has more than 2,600 members posting messages about highway traffic in the area.

Members wrote recently that trips from Shawnigan Lake to Costco in Langford that usually take 40 minutes are now taking up to two hours, and that congestion can continue until 10 p.m. some nights. Several expressed concern about the potential for passengers overheating in cars, emergency vehicles not being able to get through and drivers becoming agitated.

Erwin said the ministry has ensured that contractor Emil Anderson Construction has safety resources for drivers and does regular checks that drivers and passengers in long queues are OK.

She said Friday’s long waits were due in part to more drivers travelling during peak hours, as well as traffic being stopped in both directions periodically.

“The contractor was allowed to do up to five-minute stoppages until noon. This created some big queues and delays,” she said. “With no more stoppages on Fridays, we hope to eliminate more queues.”

Construction is scheduled to continue through to the summer of 2018, with periodic closures outside of peak traffic times.

Erwin said the project is on schedule, with blasting set to begin soon.

So far, no other measures to alleviate traffic congestion have been announced, but Erwin said the situation is being monitored.

Drivers are reminded to consider travelling outside of peak traffic hours and to use the “zipper” method of merging, alternating cars from parallel lanes, to reduce long lines.