132 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

And can you imagine the amount of money that would be required to a) buy up private property along the route and B) deal with the ramifications of impacting Gowland-Todd Park?

 

That option would put Len Barrie's Bear Mountain escapades to absolute shame.

[lanforod]

I like those two northern most ones. I also don't see an issue with the bigger ships. Allow the bridge to retract/open up, similar to how the 520 bridge does. Would also help protect during times of stormy weather to allow water to move through.

I think further north will have the maximum benefit, and attract the Duncan people to Swartz bay easier.

[SidneyTransitFan]

Just bringing this topic back to life to share my opinions on this matter. I too prefer the northern-most alignments (preferably the middle one).

I for one would support this project. I feel Sidney in particular is on its way to becoming a second "West-shore" in terms of popularity in the sense that it's by the sea, it's relatively flat but high enough above sea-level, and the commute into Victoria is as good (or better) than the one from the West shore. Also there's the proximity to the ferry terminal and airport (as said) and with the coming improvements to Hwy 17 to remove a lot of the traffic lights (Mt. Newton, Island View, Halliburton maybe) such a bridge could in fact alleviate some of the traffic congestion on Hwy 1 and at the notoriously bottlenecked Wilkinson and Interurban five-way intersection.
 

Then there's the McTavish Park & Ride and BC Transit to add into the possible benefits of such a bridge. Right now it's impossible to take a bus from Victoria to Duncan and return the same day (unless you use Greyhound). Both Mill Bay and Sidney are served by transit, and I could easily see a Duncan-Sidney/Swartz Bay route operated by Cowichan Valley Transit being used to capacity, and possibly even re-routing the 66/99 Cowichan Valley commuter routes that way should the Malahat be the victim of a rockslide, or serious accident.

At my former place of employment (Safeway) I had a co-worker who lived in Duncan but worked at our store, and one time due to a management mistake she couldn't relieve me as she was at home in Duncan and I opted to stay for the extra work, understanding it would take her two hours to get there and given the time of day it wasn't worth it for her. If such a bridge were to exist - in conjunction with the Jesken road development - it would not only take almost an hour off of her commute time, but it would open up both Sidney and Duncan to the job market in a similar way Langford has opened up recently with the big-box stores on Millstream.

[Bingo]

But we need to do something with the Malahat and that something will be incredibly expensive one way or the other.

With a Saanich Inlet crossing we can maintain the status quo with the 'hat and put some serious money and effort into a necessary second link to the south Island.

 

arghhh...

 

I haven't trundled this idea out for so long I couldn't even find where I posted it...so here is the gist of it.

 

The alternative to the Malahat is not an inland road through the watershed nor is that the way to go to bypass Duncan.

 

A ROAD OUT THE SANNICH PENINSULA WITH A BRIDGE TO SALTSPRING CROSSING BACK OVER TO THE CROFTON AREA IS THE WAY TO GO.

 

Yup it will be expensive and not popular with the folks along the route, but by then they will have been used to sewage sludge being pumped through their neighbourhoods.

There are savings to be had by not needing ferries on the Brentwood/Mill Bay crossing, Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour, and Vesuvius to Crofton, and maybe the ferry out of Long Harbour.

 

Here is the route with two options for a suspension bridge crossing from the Swartz Bay area to Saltspring Island.

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[Nparker]

I can guarantee the SSI folks would die to the last person before they'd ever allow their island to become an alternative to the Malahat. 

[Matt R.]

I like this idea just fine but I need at least 15 more years. Please?

Matt.

[lanforod]

^ no problem, it'll take that long to get built anyways.

[North Shore]

How much was the new Port Mann bridge?  Now we are going to build two of them, plus the associated road infrastructure, and all for a population that is a little over 1 million people?  Risible...

 

File this alongside the 'Tunnel to the mainland' pipedream in the pie-in-the-sky section of infrastructure projects...

[jonny]

^Agreed. If Greater Vic had ~750k residents and the South Island had 1M residents, maybe. Maybe...

[Bingo]

File this alongside the 'Tunnel to the mainland' pipedream in the pie-in-the-sky section of infrastructure projects...

Is it really a pipe dream if there is talk of building an alternate route to the Malahat through the watershed.

 

The Saltspring route has savings for BC Ferries so that needs to be factored in.

 

Yes it will not be popular with the folks on Saltspring but infrastructure projects for Victoria such as sewage treatment, the Johnson Street Bridge, road calming, bike lanes, bus lanes are not always popular but need to happen in the name of progress....if it actually is progress.

[Danma]

Build a tunnel underneath the current Malahat road, make the tunnel northbound and the surface southbound. That's still like 1/10 of the price of building a bridge from Saltspring to the Peninsula

[North Shore]

Paradoxically, I think that a twinned Malahat would have a worse accident/speeding problem than the current one. A wider, smoother, one-way highway would be perceived as being 'safer' than the current two-way one, leading to higher speeds, IMO.  And, (again, IMO) the current problems aren't so much speed, as driving too fast for conditions.

I'd bet, if we were to rip up the asphalt, and go down to a two-lane gravel road, that both speeds and accidents would decline..

[Nparker]

... if we were to rip up the asphalt, and go down to a two-lane gravel road, that both speeds and accidents would decline..

And if we got rid of the road altogether and re-planted trees in its place, there would be a 100% reduction in accidents. Sounds like the perfect solution. 

[Mattjvd]

What are the advantages of the Salt Spring route vs a bridge from the Saanich Peninsula to the Mill Bay Area?

[Nparker]

What are the advantages of the Salt Spring route vs a bridge from the Saanich Peninsula to the Mill Bay Area?

The latter would encounter slightly less anger from the public; not much, but a little.

[lanforod]

What are the advantages of the Salt Spring route vs a bridge from the Saanich Peninsula to the Mill Bay Area?

 

Shorter bridges and elimination of BC Ferries routes.

Edited by lanforod, 25 July 2017 - 01:54 PM.

[Nparker]

Shorter bridges and elimination of BC Ferries routes.

But whole lot more opposition from SSI residents. It won't happen in my life time.

[North Shore]

And if we got rid of the road altogether and re-planted trees in its place, there would be a 100% reduction in accidents. Sounds like the perfect solution. 

 LOL!  True that!  I was thinking more about a Dutch study I'd heard about that replaced all stop signs in a municipality with yield signs...making people responsible for their own safety decreased the # of accidents, apparently..

[Bingo]

What are the advantages of the Salt Spring route vs a bridge from the Saanich Peninsula to the Mill Bay Area?

 

You bypass Duncan and no longer have a need for three BC Ferries routes.

Saltspring Islanders are no longer ferry dependent. and would have better access to the airport. 

You would need a much longer bridge from the Peninsula to Mill Bay.

[Nparker]

...Saltspring Islanders are no longer ferry dependent...

But that's why they choose to live on SSI.