One road in and out of Victoria a travesty
To the Honourable Claire Trevena:
I think it is LONG overdue for the B.C. government to make an alternate highway from Victoria to Duncan.
Yesterday’s closure (because of an accident on a SINGLE lane traffic road, which is the only road into the capital city of Victoria) was ridiculous. I live 25 minutes from Victoria, and I, along with my 91 year old mother, HAD to drive the circle route through Port Renfrew, for three hours (we both sleep with CPAPS, so staying the night was out of question).
We were joined by hundreds of others that drove the circle route, bumper to bumper, perilously navigating the donkey trails that are mistakenly called roads. This circle route is scenically beautiful, however the road is atrocious at best. Lumps, bumps, twists, turns and single lane bridges — about 10 or more. That is poor emergency management planning, and neglect by the government to ensure the safety of drivers on the road.
I must add that I would love to see all high levels of government officials to have to drive this circle route with hundreds of others, bumper to bumper to understand. What a nightmarish ride!
We need a shorter alternate route, ASAP. Whether that means you work in conjunction with the Capital Regional District to acquire land from them or work on a way to open a Shawnigan Lake to Sooke Lake road route, or just build a secondary highway so that in the event of an accident the rest of the island and Victoria are not cut off from each other ever again. Yesterday is a prime example. The only capital city in the world with a single lane road as their only entry/exit point. Pathetic really. It does not portray itself as a capital city with dinky little roads. If the “big one” earthquake does happen, Victoria will be cut off from the entire island. What then? The people of Vancouver Island deserve safer roads.
Lila Vaccher
Cowichan Valley