This side of the Strait gets short shrift
Jack Knox, Columnist
Times Colonist
November 5, 2014
It took 35 minutes to drive a 10-kilometre stretch of the Colwood Crawl on Wednesday morning, the soul-and-gas-sucking monotony relieved only by a few highway-side pro-amalgamation types waving signs reminding commuters of the motoring mess here in Dysfunction-by-the-Water.
Thirty-five minutes. Plenty of time to contemplate how the provincial government has left Vancouver Island in the dust when it comes to transportation.
The flashpoint du jour: a proposal to shut down the ferry service between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay.
The idea, one of a basket of spitballed options, was so loopy that it was hard to believe the politicians would take it seriously (and let’s get real here, for all the pretense of B.C. Ferries being an independent company, in practical terms it remains an extension of government). Shifting all mainland-Nanaimo sailings to Tsawwassen might relieve Ferries of the need to do $200-million worth of upgrades to the Horseshoe Bay terminal, but that doesn’t calculate the impact on the broader economy, let alone weigh the wisdom of funnelling Island traffic through a single choke point.
Sure enough, the trial balloon was no sooner floated than it was summarily Hindenburged by Transportation Minister Todd Stone on Wednesday.
Still, it grates that the suggestion would even be made, given the imbalance in treatment of the Island and the Lower Mainland over the past dozen years. The Liberals, tax-and-spend Democrats around Vancouver, have been penny-pinching Republicans on this side of the strait.
February’s provincial budget included $2.5 billion in transportation capital spending over three years, everything from $299 million for the SkyTrain’s Evergreen Line to $71 million for the Massey Tunnel replacement. Also included were some congratulatory references to the $22 billion (yes, that’s billion with a b) committed to the Lower Mainland’s Pacific Gateway transportation strategy.
Over here? Um, there was $15 million for more barriers for the Malahat. The province agreed to kick in $4.9 million for Langford’s Bridge to Nowhere a few years ago and later contributed $10.5 million to the McTavish Road crop circles (Bill Cleverley’s description) in 2011, but really we haven’t seen serious cash since the $1.3-billion Vancouver Island Highway Project was finished in 2001.
Not a penny for the Johnson Street Bridge replacement. Nothing but Band-Aids for the Malahat. Nothing for the McKenzie Avenue interchange, stone cold on the back burner ever since being moved there by the New Democrats in 1991.
This morning, Tourism Victoria’s transportation committee will meet with Jordan Sturdy, the West Vancouver/Sea-To-Sky Liberal MLA tasked with gathering input on the Vancouver Island portion of the province’s 10-year transportation master plan. He’ll get pressed on the organization’s priorities, chief among them being the redevelopment of the Belleville Street ferry terminal where the Coho and Clipper come in.
Among other items on the shopping list are a solution to the highway constipation at McKenzie Avenue, some rail and water initiatives, and Pat Bay Highway improvements at Sayward Road and Keating Cross Road. Are those your priorities? You can have your voice heard by filling in the survey at engage.gov.bc.ca/ transportationplan.
At least we’re now getting consulted, though it doesn’t help that our fractured local governments haven’t been able to push a capital region vision with one voice. Still, last month Stone said the McKenzie interchange had emerged as a priority. No surprise there, but it’s an $80-million to $100-million fix, and the province wants Ottawa to be part of the solution.
In the meantime, we’re going nowhere fast.
- See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-this-side-of-the-strait-gets-short-shrift-1.1526600#sthash.BQPWD5hO.dpuf
Jack Knox, Columnist
Times Colonist
November 5, 2014
It took 35 minutes to drive a 10-kilometre stretch of the Colwood Crawl on Wednesday morning, the soul-and-gas-sucking monotony relieved only by a few highway-side pro-amalgamation types waving signs reminding commuters of the motoring mess here in Dysfunction-by-the-Water.
Thirty-five minutes. Plenty of time to contemplate how the provincial government has left Vancouver Island in the dust when it comes to transportation.
The flashpoint du jour: a proposal to shut down the ferry service between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay.
The idea, one of a basket of spitballed options, was so loopy that it was hard to believe the politicians would take it seriously (and let’s get real here, for all the pretense of B.C. Ferries being an independent company, in practical terms it remains an extension of government). Shifting all mainland-Nanaimo sailings to Tsawwassen might relieve Ferries of the need to do $200-million worth of upgrades to the Horseshoe Bay terminal, but that doesn’t calculate the impact on the broader economy, let alone weigh the wisdom of funnelling Island traffic through a single choke point.
Sure enough, the trial balloon was no sooner floated than it was summarily Hindenburged by Transportation Minister Todd Stone on Wednesday.
Still, it grates that the suggestion would even be made, given the imbalance in treatment of the Island and the Lower Mainland over the past dozen years. The Liberals, tax-and-spend Democrats around Vancouver, have been penny-pinching Republicans on this side of the strait.
February’s provincial budget included $2.5 billion in transportation capital spending over three years, everything from $299 million for the SkyTrain’s Evergreen Line to $71 million for the Massey Tunnel replacement. Also included were some congratulatory references to the $22 billion (yes, that’s billion with a b) committed to the Lower Mainland’s Pacific Gateway transportation strategy.
Over here? Um, there was $15 million for more barriers for the Malahat. The province agreed to kick in $4.9 million for Langford’s Bridge to Nowhere a few years ago and later contributed $10.5 million to the McTavish Road crop circles (Bill Cleverley’s description) in 2011, but really we haven’t seen serious cash since the $1.3-billion Vancouver Island Highway Project was finished in 2001.
Not a penny for the Johnson Street Bridge replacement. Nothing but Band-Aids for the Malahat. Nothing for the McKenzie Avenue interchange, stone cold on the back burner ever since being moved there by the New Democrats in 1991.
This morning, Tourism Victoria’s transportation committee will meet with Jordan Sturdy, the West Vancouver/Sea-To-Sky Liberal MLA tasked with gathering input on the Vancouver Island portion of the province’s 10-year transportation master plan. He’ll get pressed on the organization’s priorities, chief among them being the redevelopment of the Belleville Street ferry terminal where the Coho and Clipper come in.
Among other items on the shopping list are a solution to the highway constipation at McKenzie Avenue, some rail and water initiatives, and Pat Bay Highway improvements at Sayward Road and Keating Cross Road. Are those your priorities? You can have your voice heard by filling in the survey at engage.gov.bc.ca/ transportationplan.
At least we’re now getting consulted, though it doesn’t help that our fractured local governments haven’t been able to push a capital region vision with one voice. Still, last month Stone said the McKenzie interchange had emerged as a priority. No surprise there, but it’s an $80-million to $100-million fix, and the province wants Ottawa to be part of the solution.
In the meantime, we’re going nowhere fast.
- See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-this-side-of-the-strait-gets-short-shrift-1.1526600#sthash.BQPWD5hO.dpuf