A $95 million joint investment from provincial and federal governments will bring Highway 1 improvements in the West Shore area that will enable faster public transit services.
Over $28 million is coming from the federal government, with BC contributing the remaining balance, just under $67 million.
The funding will widen around 3.8 kilometres of the highway between the McKenzie and Colwood Interchanges, which will accommodate northbound and southbound bus-on-shoulder lanes.
These lanes will allow the RapidBus service to use the shoulders along designated areas of the highway to travel.
RapidBus is designed to bring consistent and frequent bus services and limiting stops to high passenger volume areas.
“This is one of the largest investments in transportation and infrastructure in the West Shore’s history, set to deliver faster and more reliable bus service,” said Ravi Parmar, MLA Langford-Juan de Fuca.
“This will save people time, fuel and money by getting them out of congestion and onto rapid buses.”
Investing in the widening of bus-on-shoulder lanes along Highway 1 will accelerate the implementation of RapidBus, ultimately making transit faster and more reliable.
“We know transit is a vital resource for our West Shore communities, and funding these new dedicated lanes will make taking the bus an even easier choice,” said Rob Fleming, BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure
“People can count on getting to their homes and work as quickly as possible.”
Mitzi Dean, MLA Esquimalt-Metchosin, added that it also supports our community goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make sustainable choices for the future.
The funding for this project will not only cover the converting and widening of existing shoulders, it will also realign ramps and-terminal intersections, install road barriers, add additional signage and warning flashers.
They’ll also construct a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists crossing Craigflower Creek.
Work is anticipated to start in early 2025 and is slated to be completed by late fall 2027.
Traffic flow will be maintained during construction.
