865 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

A busy Douglas Street intersection that connects to the Trans-Canada Highway will see about five weeks of lane closures for B.C. Hydro infrastructure work.

The lane closures on Douglas Street around Topaz Avenue and Burnside Road are set to begin Jan. 12.

There will be no left turns onto Burnside Road from Douglas Street for those travelling northbound while construction is taking place.

B.C. Hydro said its work will also block access to Topaz Avenue from Douglas Street for much of January.

The plan is to bury a new power transmission cable under Burnside Road and Topaz Avenue, routing the cable through the northbound left turn lane on Douglas Street.

Duct banks for the cable on Topaz Avenue were completed in early December, and crews wrapped up their underground scan of the Douglas Street intersection the same month.

The intersection, located on a well-used transportation corridor, is crisscrossed with decades of forgotten underground infrastructure.

 

 

https://www.timescol...losure-11699242

 

 

 

 

Forgotten Underground Infrastructure (FUG) opens for Tinto Rocks in early June.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 January 2026 - 07:26 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. Hydro said Tuesday it is suspending its underground work on the Island Highway through View Royal.

That’s expected to ease some of the traffic congestion that contributed to long commute times during rush hours on Monday and Tuesday.

Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said the planned two-week maintenance work on underground transmission lines in the 200-block of Island Highway was put on hold because of “challenges” discovered after initial excavations.

 

[...]

 

Olynyk said the suspension of work has nothing to do with traffic complaints.

Drivers took to social media on Tuesday morning, saying the B.C. Hydro project was increasing commute times from the West Shore, with some claiming it took more than 90 minutes to get from Langford and Colwood into Victoria.

 

 

https://www.timescol...o-ease-11922014

[Mike K.]

It was petty bad.

But that’s what happens when you plan a road closure while the only other alternative is itself a construction zone.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well they are going to repave on Friday. After 9am though. Which actually should be done Saturday.

So they had that eastbound closure and the Bay bridge eastbound closure. Odd timing.

Anyway since they are not going to fix whatever they went in to fix, the next solution will probably more complex when they come up with it.

[Mike K.]

Oak Bay and Saanich would never put up with a single choke point into the city centre. There would be new roads built.

[FogPub]

^In days of yore that might be true, but there's nowhere to put new roads now.  They'd have to widen and upgrade existing roads, over the all-too-predictable howls of protest from those who live on said roads.