3745 replies to this topic

[Rex250]

this should have been an interchange before spencer road.

[seymour201]

Building an overpass at Mckenzie isn't really going to solve that many problems is it?
There's another light 200m up the highway, take a left up McKenzie and you are stuck at the light at Burnside anyways. That intersection will become a nightmare because there is less control at the TCH limiting the number of cars queuing up to run the light. Admirals might benefit a bit from this but really, who wants to go to Esquimalt.

@Rex250 as for Spencer road, that is currently still a private construction project, fund , for now, by COL. If Saanich wants to encourage some business to set up and raise money from construction in the muni, I'm sure they could have their own interchange too.

Why is it that everyone in Vic thinks the comute out to the Westshore, or vica versa is so bad? It takes 30 minutes to get to town during rush hour. Is that so bad? Go to a big city that where 2 hours is a normal commute. Turn on the radio, relax a little and dont worry if buddy in the car infront of you just snuck infront of you. your going to get home half a second later ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

[Lover Fighter]

I don't know how people can still say building an overpass at McKenzie is a bad idea. I don't even think it should be a debate anymore, I feel as if the time for debating is over and that it should be built before it's too late (although, it probably IS too late already).

Seymour201, you say the overpass won't fix any problems, but then you address an incorrect problem. I'm not in favour of an interchange so that I can get out to Langford as quick as possible (note that I don't even have a car), it's to deal with the extreme amount of unhealthy congestion along the Highway. The main problems I have with the congestion are bad traffic flow (not to do with trip time, but so more people will want to take the highway out west opposed to the Old Island Highway and Burnside) and engine idling.

Yes there will still be an intersection at Tillicum but there will be no lights after it until the Westshore Parkway. Traffic along McKenzie probably won't be improved all that much, like you said but with a faster flowing merge lane there shouldn't be people backed up from the highway anymore (backed up fom Burnside though, yes, still).

[gumgum]

^^If building as overpass @ MacKenzie isn't going to solve any congestion issues, how is building the Spencer Road interchange helping then?

[ressen]

McKenzie Ave is considered the express route from Pat Bay to TCH (as opposed to Wilkinson) but at times it is faster to to take Wilkinson Rd. which adds to the congestion at Wilkinson at Interurban. To truly make McKenzie Ave the express route then an underpass at TCH is a must. There is virtually no traffic congestion in either direction of the TCH once one clears the intersection at Mckenzie. Inbound traffic diffuses at or just past McKenzie by diverting traffic to Admirals Rd.,Burnside Rd., THC to Douglas and to McKenzie Rd. which is why its such a bottleneck there with the traffic lights.

[amor de cosmos]

edited

[Linear Thinker]

If this info already exists, my apologies....

Replacement of the Admirals Rd bridge over Colquitz Creek.

http://www.gov.saani...s/projects.html

[G-Man]

Interesting.

[Phil McAvity]

Well if an overpass/underpass at McKenzie/Trans Canada won't help then why did the overpass/underpass at McKenzie/Pat Bay make such a huge difference? Before they built that thing I remember traffic regularly being backed up as far as you could see, it was unreal. Ever since it has been (fairly) smooth sailing. There's no question that some kind of an improvement is necessary at McKenzie, then they can tackle Tillicum/Trans Canada which is also a mess. The most ridiculous thing is that there is nothing but land all around that intersection if they wanted to build some kind of cloverleaf as well. I signed the petition that Bernard posted but it sure didn't explain much, all it said was, "The McKenzie Overpass". Well, McKenzie is a long street.

[amor de cosmos]

not specifically for roads or highways, but all housing-related infrastructure for residential areas:

CMHC to Assist Municipalities with Infrastructure Loans

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, April 19, 2009 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), today announced that municipalities can begin applying for direct, low-cost loans for shovel-ready infrastructure projects through CMHC.

“Our Government understands the importance of infrastructure in maintaining strong and prosperous communities,” said Minister Finley. “We’re very pleased to officially launch our Municipal Infrastructure Lending Program, which will give municipalities access to the low-cost funding they need to move forward quickly on housing-related infrastructure projects. These projects will also provide job creation for the local community.”

Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides up to $2 billion in direct low-cost loans to municipalities, over two years, for housing-related infrastructure projects. Municipal infrastructure loans are available to any municipality in Canada and will provide a new source of funds for municipalities to invest in housing-related infrastructure projects. Eligible loans will be approved largely on a first come, first serve basis, however, CMHC will also seek to facilitate equitable access to the program and will work to encourage applications from urban and rural municipalities across Canada. Only infrastructure projects serving new or existing residential areas may be considered.

Eligible municipal infrastructure projects must directly relate to housing, contributing to the efficient functioning of residential areas. Projects include, for example, infrastructure related to the provision of housing services such as water, wastewater and solid waste services, power generation; local transportation infrastructure within or into residential areas such as roads, bridges and tunnels; residential sidewalks, lighting, pathways, landscaping and green space.

"The Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) is pleased to see this program launched so quickly," said Gary Friend, President of CHBA. "This funding will not only provide needed municipal infrastructure for housing in our communities, but it will also help to create jobs and stimulate our economy."

"This program will help municipalities across Canada," said Ken Seiling, Regional Chair, Regional Municipality of Waterloo. "With access to preferential lending rates, it should assist many communities in advancing their critical infrastructure projects."

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

More information on this and other measures in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, a plan to stimulate the economy and protect those hit hardest by the global recession, can be found at: http://www.budget.gc...accueil-eng.asp.

More information, including applications forms, for municipalities wishing to apply for loans can be found at: www.cmhc.ca/housingactionplan

To watch this event on-line, visit the Newsroom on CMHC’s website.

Media inquiries:

Michelle Bakos
Office of the Honourable Diane Finley
Minister of Human Resources
and Skills Development Canada
Tel.: 819-994-2482

Backgrounder

Helping Municipalities Build Stronger Communities

CMHC Municipal Infrastructure Lending Program

Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides up to $2 billion in direct low-cost loans to municipalities over two years through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for housing-related infrastructure projects in towns and cities across the country.

These infrastructure loans are available to any municipality within Canada and will provide a new source of funds for municipalities to invest in housing-related infrastructure projects. Only infrastructure projects serving new or existing residential areas may be considered.

Eligible municipal infrastructure projects must directly relate to housing, contributing to the efficient functioning of residential areas. Projects include, for example, infrastructure related to the provision of housing services such as water, wastewater and solid waste services, power generation; local transportation infrastructure within or into residential areas such as roads, bridges and tunnels; residential sidewalks, lighting, pathways, landscaping and green space.

Infrastructure projects not directly related to housing such as social infrastructure projects, including community centres, skating rinks, playground equipment and libraries, are not eligible under this program.

There will be a focus on funding projects that are shovel-ready, as this is a targeted, short-term, temporary measure intended to create jobs.

These low-cost loans will significantly decrease the cost of borrowing for municipalities and can be used by them to fund their contribution for cost-shared federal infrastructure programming.

Eligible loans will be approved largely on a first-come, first-serve basis, provided the proposal meets eligibility requirements. However, CMHC will also seek to facilitate equitable access to the program and will work to encourage applications from urban and rural municipalities across Canada.

CMHC will screen applications against program eligibility, readiness to proceed and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) requirements.

For more information or to make an application, municipalities can visit CMHC’s website at www.cmhc.ca/housingactionplan.

http://www.cmhc.ca/e...-04-19-1330.cfm

[amor de cosmos]

here's the FCM president's comments:

By committing up to $2 billion in low-interest loans for municipal infrastructure projects, the federal government, through CMHC, has provided a financing tool that will help municipalities access $12 billion in federal funding for cost-shared stimulus projects over the next two years.

The program helps to address an urgent issue facing many municipal governments: the challenge of meeting requirements to share one-third of the cost of stimulus projects at a point in the fiscal year when municipal budgets have already been approved. Municipalities are on track to invest a record-setting $15 billion in local infrastructure in 2009. While accessing credit is not generally a problem for municipalities, finding additional dollars after budgets have been set can be a significant obstacle.This program will help municipalities overcome this obstacle in order to access cost-shared stimulus programs.

Today's announcement demonstrates the positive results governments can achieve when they work together. With the support of Minister Diane Finley, FCM worked with officials at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to provide front-line input and technical expertise in the development of an innovative program featuring the lowest interest rate available, a streamlined application process, and quick review and approvals. The result is a program that will help inject stimulus into the economy and provide municipalities with a more affordable debt-financing tool - all without contributing one dollar to future federal deficits.

The lending program will provide municipalities with simple-to-access credit at the same low interest rate available to the federal government. The only additional charge will be a small fee levied to recover the cost of the program.

The program will feature interest rates that are significantly lower than the best rates typically available to municipalities, saving local property taxpayers about 10 per cent on total financing costs over the life of the loan - a notable savings for municipal councils, where every tax dollar counts. CMHC has also committed to turning loan approvals around quickly, reducing significant delays in our short construction season. This accelerated access to financing will help municipalities get federal stimulus dollars invested in front-line construction projects quickly enough to fight the recession.

http://www.newswire....9/19/c3037.html

[VicHockeyFan]

I vote "stimulus" as word of the year for 2009.

[mat]

I vote "stimulus" as word of the year for 2009.

wouldn't 'stimuli' be more appropriate?

[VicHockeyFan]

wouldn't 'stimuli' be more appropriate?

Some guy is selling the name stimulus.net and the bidding is now at $2900. That's not gonna stimulate the economy. The government should have paid $2M for it.

http://forums.digita....php?p=10957748

[mat]

Some guy is selling the name stimulus.net and the bidding is now at $2900. That's not gonna stimulate the economy. The government should have paid $2M for it.

http://forums.digita....php?p=10957748

stimuli.com (.org, .net etal) all taken as well. Too bad, could have paid off my mortgage selling it to Rush Limbaugh

[amor de cosmos]

I vote "stimulus" as word of the year for 2009.

i vote "shovel-ready"

[Linear Thinker]

The Perfect Storm:

What if this (Island Highway Upgrades):
http://www.town.view...939c7c6b&id=397

and this (Admirals Rd Bridge at Colquitz):
http://www.gov.saani...s/projects.html

and page 3 of this (Esquimalt Rd Improvements)
http://www.esquimalt..._Newsletter.pdf
all took place at the same time?

Throw in some work by the CRD for Rail Trail work, and things could get very ugly (uglier?) along Tillicum Road.

[Phil McAvity]

I believe that the McKenzie/Highway 1 Interchange should be the first priority followed by the Highway 17/McTavish Rd. Intersection. Then comes the Highway 1/Tillicum Rd. Intersection followed by a big expansion of Wilkinson Rd. Traffic in all those places is horrendous.

[Lover Fighter]

I still strongly believe that if the Mckenzie/Highway 1 interchange was upgraded to an overpass that it would help alleviate problems along Wilkinson (many people travelling from the peninsula to westshore avoid Mckenzie because of how poor the intersection is).

[Phil McAvity]

^Yeah except Wilkinson Rd is a complete joke because it is the first northern connector between between the highways (which means it is obviously going to get a lot of traffic) yet it is a ridiculous little two-lane street. If this were the United States, i'll bet that street would have been a four lane freeway a long time ago but here in Canada for some reason, we are supposed to like sitting in traffic.