Island winery squeezed by Malahat construction slowdowns

A winery owner in the Cowichan Valley says traffic delays on the Malahat Highway are squeezing her family's business.

Michelle Schulze, who co-owns  Venturi-Schulze Vineyards in Cobble Hill, told All Points West host Jason D'Souza that a local tour operator will no longer bring tourists to the vineyard because the commute has become too long.

Construction on the winding highway from downtown Victoria has increased trip times from 45 minutes to as much as two hours in recent days, Schulze said.

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Many tour participants are day-trippers from Seattle who arrive on the Victoria Clipper passenger ferry.

"They need to get back to the Clipper to get home," Schulze said. 

"They're finding it really, really difficult to come all the way up and get back over in time to get people back where they need to be."

Instead of languishing in Malahat lineups, Schulze said, the tour operator will take tourists to wineries closer to downtown Victoria, on the Saanich Peninsula.

The winery is a popular destination for local residents year round, but summertime is when tourists come from around the world, Schulze said. 

"This is when we make most of our money," she said.

"Not only do they come up and spend money, but they order stuff online later and that's a big part of our business," she said. "If I start to miss out on that, I'm going to really start to feel it."

Increasing complaints

Sonia Furstenau, the Green Party MLA for the Cowichan Valley, said her office is receiving increasing numbers of complaints from constituents about construction slowdowns on the Malahat. 

"We've heard people talking about two- to three-hour commutes," Furstenau told On the Island host Gregor Craigie.

One woman told the MLA's office she is thinking about quitting her job in Victoria because of the increased traffic delays.

"The impact it's having on drivers really does need to be addressed," Furstenau said.

Furstenau said she was told by NDP Transportation Minister Claire Trevena that the government is monitoring traffic volumes on the Malahat because it appears that construction might not be the only reason for the congestion. 

It might be an unexpected consequence of the wildfires, she said, with more tourists remaining on the Island instead of heading for the B.C. Interior. 

"In our letter we suggested some alternatives ... including changes to the times construction is happening," Furstenau said. 

Traffic stoppages cancelled

The ministry of transportation assured commuters that the frustrating commute last Friday will not be repeated this week. Traffic stoppages of up to five minutes at a time were allowed last Friday, but those have now been eliminated.

However, Transportation Ministry director Janelle Erwin said shifting the roadwork to night time during the current phase of drilling and blasting is not possible, for safety reasons. 

In addition, a section of one northbound lane has remained closed to traffic even when road work is not in progress because it is being used as a staging area, Erwin said. 

She said the potential for freeing up that lane for traffic is under discussion. 

Meanwhile, the pain for commuters will not be over soon. The current roadwork is schedule to continue through the summer of 2018.