A rainy fall has hit construction crews, but after some minor delays, contractors were able to put the finishing touches on a second turning lane for the extensive West Shore Parkway project on Friday that remains on track for completion in the latter half of 2017.
“We would have preferred to be a little earlier, but we had record rainfall so we were challenged to get the paving done, as we’ve been dodging the weather for the last four weeks,” said City of Langford director of engineering, Michelle Mahovlich.
“The combination of rain and cold weather prevents us from paving … we’ve been kind of making the call hour by hour and day by day this week.”
The added left-hand turn lane will effectively double the traffic that’s able to get onto the West Shore Parkway, which projects to be a busy thoroughfare for the Westhills development once it connects the Trans-Canada to Sooke Road.
“(This) will help alleviate a lot of the traffic coming northbound … double the amount of traffic can queue left, so that allows more northbound traffic to get through,” Mahovlich said.
In addition to the added turn lane, three other segments of the West Shore Parkway Completion Project have already been completed, including the installation of a signal on Sooke Road at the south portion of the route – which is simply awaiting hydro power – the segment in the Glenshire industrial Park and the segment in Westhills near the play park.
Just under two kilometres of the road, as well as a railway crossing, remain under construction.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com