385 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Pickup and transport trucks decorated with Canadian flags circled the B.C. legislature Saturday afternoon, protesting pandemic restrictions.

 

The crowd on legislature lawns was relatively small compared to last weekend when thousands of people came out. Noise from drivers honking their horns was not constant.

 

Protesters lined Government Street waving Canadian flags and holding signs, but the road remained open to traffic. Police officers from several municipal departments kept an eye on the participants.

 

 

https://www.timescol...t-empty-5154861

[Victoria Watcher]

I guess there was a clash of protest groups yesterday in Calgary.

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ation-1.6383268

[On the Level]

Sooke is dealing with quite the conundrum right now. Having not built much in the way of road infrastructure since incorporating in the late 90s and growing as fast as it has been, the road network into and through Sooke is in a predicament, which has been highlighted by one road closure in the town centre for underground work until the 25th of March, that was used as a shortcut through town for westbound traffic along Highway 14. Now all vehicles are forced to drive all the way into the town centre before taking other roads. During peak rush hours traffic can be back up from the town centre to the four lane portion of the highway in Langford. Oops.

The council put out a statement yesterday asking residents to take transit, and they appeared to put some blame on many people returning to work and how that wasn’t factored in to their planning, which frustrated residents who feel like the district is blaming them, and not admitting it’s own lack of road infrastructure upgrades over two decades.

Langford did the opposite. They planned many roads, and began connecting roads well before the growth arrived. Yes, there is some congestion in Langford now but it’s mostly frustration that traffic doesn’t always flow freely rather than long travel periods. Now imagine that Langford would be facing had it not built those roads. That’s what Sooke has to deal with.

 

Have they made any progress on their Transportation Master Plan since November 2020?  Seems like they had all of the information to help avoid gridlock, but just sat on it.

 

https://sooke.ca/wp-...l-R2-SCREEN.pdf

[Mike K.]

No. They have only managed to improve sidewalk infrastructure along two blocks of two north/south streets feeding into Sooke Road (Otter Point Road and Church Road). Church Road is supposed to get a traffic circle at Sooke Road, and Charters Road (the one currently closed to traffic and which is causing major bottlenecks) is another north/south road, which will get a traffic circle at Sooke Road.

 

They need to have a new east/west through-road constructed to divert traffic heading towards Otter Point, west Sooke and Shirley+beyond away from the town centre, but there are no definitive timelines to accomplish this. Without this, everything else is a moot point.

 

The other thing that needs doing is improvement of Highway 14 between Sooke's town centre and the end of the new highway four-laning. Currently it's just a two-lane highway, with portions that don't have a detour available in the event of an accident. The province is dropping the ball here, on that portion of the highway.

[rjag]

Lots of noise being made by the Saanich bikelist lobby as part of their road safety wedge issues. Now they have their target set on single laning Quadra all the way from Chatterton to Tolmie. 

 

Thats going to be a lot more money spent on catering to a small vocal group and less maintenance on roads. 

[Nparker]

...Now they have their target set on single laning Quadra all the way from Chatterton to Tolmie...

Under the misapprehension that half the cars which currently use this major north-south, inter-municipal roadway will simply disappear. 

[Mike K.]

Lots of noise being made by the Saanich bikelist lobby as part of their road safety wedge issues. Now they have their target set on single laning Quadra all the way from Chatterton to Tolmie. 

 

Thats going to be a lot more money spent on catering to a small vocal group and less maintenance on roads. 

 

Well, that's one way to generate more carbon tax revenues, I suppose.

[Sparky]

Maybe the truckers are not going to make it all the way to Victoria Island after all. EDIT: Their webpage has now been corrected.

'Freedom convoy' shifts gears to protest in Vancouver, not Victoria

https://www.vancouve...ictoria-5159430

[Cats4Hire]

fuel is too expensive, have to cut the journey to not go in debt with those giant things.

[Sparky]

Here is a piece that says they are still looking for land to camp on.

https://www.cheknews...way-989120/?amp

[Sparky]

Maybe James and Ron are using different social media platforms to stay connected?

[todd]

fuel is too expensive, have to cut the journey to not go in debt with those giant things.

I think we all learned a thing or two about trucks and how it’s important to produce/buy local to avoid using them.

Edited by todd, 15 March 2022 - 08:57 AM.

[Sparky]

Looks like VicPD set up road blocks today in James Bay limiting vehicles to local traffic only on roads around the Ledge in order to reduce freedom protest traffic.

[Nparker]

...limiting vehicles...to reduce freedom protest traffic.

More irony.

[Victoria Watcher]

Where is the convoy?

[Victoria Watcher]

On day four of Victoria Police’s unprecedented shutdown of traffic around the legislature, the James Bay area was devoid of any convoy.

The police checkpoints allowing in residents only were largely unmanned. The only visible trucks were actual work trucks, as the protest convoy which was supposed to arrive in Victoria Sunday still hasn’t shown up.

Convoy coordinator Ron Clark said in a Facebook Live that many participants are worried, that the province or federal government could suddenly create new COVID-19 mandates, which could trap them on Vancouver Island.

“There’s a lot on the other side, but they’re coming over to chat with us first because there’s a lot of rumours and stuff running around out there that all these trucks are going to come over on this island and then get trapped on this island,” said Clark, who claimed to be speaking from a convoy camp somewhere on Vancouver Island.

https://www.cheknews...ainland-993182/


Somehow I’d think some/many of these truckers need to get back to work. You know, trucking.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 March 2022 - 10:43 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Some of those solutions include discussing the timing of traffic lights along Highway 14 with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, meeting with the Sooke School District and working with BC Transit to expand transit services.

Sooke resident Sara Heck has worked from home the past two years. She will return to the road in April when she resumes working in her downtown Victoria office – and is dreading it. Her husband commutes to Langford and she said it takes him more than an hour to get home most days. She said busing isn’t an option for her, as her two children go to different schools in Colwood, so she needs a car to be able to pick them up.


https://www.goldstre...ve-anticipated/

That’s interesting that her kids each go to school at different Colwood schools. Maybe she can teach them how to take the bus?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 March 2022 - 05:26 AM.

[Mike K.]

The road project causing the congestion completes tomorrow. Why aren’t they mentioning that big, important detail and even acknowledging that it’s road work and not a permanent “closure,”, or the fact traffic slows along highway 14 due to a two year long highway construction project? That’s a 1.5km span that can be reduced to 30-50km/h which during rush hour makes a big impact. Huge detail to not include, too.

They also mistake design work for new road improvements with construction. Two major projects will be 75-90% designed, not completed, by the end of 2022.

[sebberry]

Sooke resident Sara Heck has worked from home the past two years. She will return to the road in April when she resumes working in her downtown Victoria office – and is dreading it. 

 

Why can't her workplace accommodate working from home, at least a few days a week?

[Victoria Watcher]

Still disrupted, but by different people

 

The police are now creating more traffic problems in James Bay than the protesters did. The only good part is they aren’t blowing their horns.

 

Mike Holt
Victoria

 

https://www.timescol...kleball-5197053

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2022 - 06:28 AM.