Province aims to solve Victoria's Colwood Crawl with McKenzie interchange

The province has revealed plans for a long-awaited interchange to ease severe traffic congestion between Victoria and the suburbs along the Westshore.

Dubbed the "Colwood Crawl," it can take drivers more than an hour to go just a few kilometres on the Trans-Canada Highway in and out of Victoria at rush hour.

"This means people will be able to leave a little bit later and spend a little bit more time with their loved ones in the morning and get home for dinner a bit earlier," said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone.

The $85-million Mckenzie interchange will replace the existing stop lights at McKenzie Avenue and the Trans-Canada Highway with a partial cloverleaf design.

The province said the design will reduce congestion and improve road safety. It will also include bus lanes and overpasses for pedestrians and cyclists.

NDP MLA Rob Fleming said he is pleased to see a plan to get traffic moving, but he raised concerns that people in Capital Region still don't have enough transit options.

"When we studied this project, I think a lot of people were surprised to see that most of the traffic there is single occupant vehicles and only seven per cent of the people that are commuting are in a transit vehicle," he said. 

Impact on neighbourhood

There is also concern the interchange will simply divert traffic problems into the surrounding neighbourhoods.

"Once you get off the highway and go into the double cloverleaf lanes and get yourself onto McKenize, you are still going to come to a screaming halt at a level intersection at West Burnside [Road]," said Chris Foord, who sits on the Capital Regional District Traffic Safety Commission.

The cloverleaf will also cut into the popular Cuthbert Holmes Park in the District of Saanich.

"They went with the worst option they could have for our neighbourhood," said Rob Wickson, president of the Gorge Tillicum Community Association. "Now we're stuck with a huge intersection going through the park."

But Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell was optimistic the province will find ways to protect the park.

"I'm quite satisfied that the impact to the park is going to be minimal," he said. 

"The ministry is looking towards improving vegetation at the edges of the park where they have their right-of-way, where there currently hasn't been a lot of vegetation."

The transportation minister noted land swaps would be used to ensure there is no net loss of park land in Saanich because of the interchange.

Traffic delays during construction

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that Victoria commuters will have to put up with traffic snarls during construction of the new interchange.

"I will say now, I appreciate ahead of time the patience that will be needed from motorists through the construction period because there will be some disruptions," Stone said. "We are going to minimize that as much as possible."

Construction is expected to start this fall and continue for two years.