Residents, visitors and commercial drivers alike are adjusting to a changed traffic situation at the corner of Leigh Road and Goldstream Avenue this week and will continue to do so in the coming days and weeks.
The City of Langford’s project to realign the intersection and install traffic lights to help deal with the increased traffic flowing through the area is all but done. We applaud the City for tackling head on one of its most persistent road problems, one directly related to increased volume and questionable safety.
As the area with the fastest growth in its population in the Capital Region, Langford is slowly, but surely getting a handle on its internal traffic situation. Traffic logjams on main thoroughfares such as Millstream and Jacklin roads will no doubt continue, especially with no apparent slowdown to the number of single-passenger vehicle trips being made – a challenge faced by not just Langford, but municipalities across the Capital Region.
The City has for some time been tasked with how to make traffic flow smoothly between its boundaries. The engineering department has taken steps to address that over the years, replacing the old Millstream Road with Veterans Memorial Parkway, working with the province on exits from and on-ramps onto the Trans Canada Highway, and other projects.
The West Shore Parkway extension is expected to take stress off Sooke Road/Island Highway between Glen Lake and the View Royal on-ramp, when it opens fully in spring 2018. Likewise the Bear Mountain Parkway completion to the TCH, as it relates to ongoing congestion on Millstream.
We suggest some next steps could be widening Jacklin Road all the way to Sooke Road. With the increased development planned for Jacklin, the transportation systems in the area will also need upgrading. We also hear rumblings of the province making Sooke Road four lanes throughout the West Shore and beyond, which would also help.
Traffic planning is a slow, long-term process and intensive growth complicates that. City planners have a tough job ahead, but so far, they’re keeping the traffic wolves at bay.