However, Richardson is a residential road and wasn’t built as a highway for Oak Bay residents to travel downtown, Daniel points out.
“I’ve had one person tell me, ‘You want me to drive on Fairfield instead and travel through three school zones,’” Daniel said. “I said, ‘Yes, or you don’t have to drive.’ There’s a lot of people in Fairfield who don’t believe our roads are here for Oak Bay residents to commute on.’”
I suppose it was inevitable that the relentless ebb-and-flow of intense commuter traffic from south Oak Bay through Fairfield would boil over eventually. Although it seems a bit curious that it would be boiling over now, considering how Oak Bay's population growth has been pretty much flat for several decades in a row, and also considering how retirees account for a larger percentage of Oak Bay's population now than ever before.
Age 60+ in Oak Bay*:
2006: 5,735
2011: 6,690
2016: 7,285
*source: Statistics Canada community profiles for 2006, 2011, 2016
Oak Bay residents are concerned about over-densification... Fairfield residents are concerned about the sheer volume of Oak Bay commuter traffic... Would we say these concerns are completely detached from reality or just very nearly completely detached?
The only way Oak Bay's vehicle traffic through Fairfield would be less of a real concern is if Oak Bay's population were declining steadily. But if Oak Bay's population were declining steadily you just know it wouldn't matter and we'd be talking about this supposed issue all the same. The actual circumstances are irrelevant. The issues and concerns transcend the reality of things.