Ongoing traffic congestion on Highway 14 is pushing Sooke businesses to the brink of closure.
Sooke business owners have said that the daily congestion has caused a decline in customers and have warned that they face drastic cost-cutting measures, or in some cases closure, if a solution is not found “sooner rather than later”.
Smaller local shops, particularly impacted by local residents who work outside of Sooke choosing to shop in towns such as Langford before braving the traffic home, have urged the community to “shop local", warning that it is a “use it or lose it” situation.
“I've had my shop for 16 years now, and I've never seen it this quiet,” said Karen Stones, owner of A Sea of Bloom, a floral and gift boutique shop on Otter Point Road, speaking to Sooke News Mirror. “One person has said to me that if this keeps going, they’ll be done by the fall. I can tell people are scared like … it’s a worry.”
For Stones, who recently had a knee operation forcing her to hire more employees and use reserves to cover costs, her fear is having to cut staff if the problem persists.
“If it gets to the point where I might have to close, I’m going to be laying everybody off,” she said. “And it would just be my husband and I running it. We would normally rely on regular sales, but they're not happening.”
In a bid to encourage more business and find a quick short-term solution, Stones and neighbouring shop owners are teaming up to encourage Sooke residents to shop local and support them. Ideas include a parking-lot party, increased social media activity, new signage and late-night openings.
“We do have a good set of locals that support us, but everybody's busy and people are frustrated with the traffic so they're not coming into the core of Sooke,” said Stones. “So we’re just trying to remind people that we’re still here and to shop local.”
It’s not just Stones and her neighbours that are speaking out about the problems facing local businesses. At a District of Sooke meeting on July 8, nearly 40 minutes was dedicated to a period of public participation, as business owners and residents lined up to have their say about the ongoing traffic woes.
Dentist Chris Bryant told councillors that missed appointments was costing his business in the region of “four-figures every month”, urging the council to “take off the gloves and get bloody” to tackle the issue.
“We are losing businesses that just aren’t going to come back to Sooke,” warned realtor Shayne Fedosenko, who gave one example of a group home that has closed down and is moving to Langford because of staffing issues caused by the traffic.
“Businesses are saying that it’s time to go, they can’t get people to come out here and work,” added Fedosenko.
Other business owners cited concerns that tourists are being deterred by the traffic and that staff leaving work early or arriving late because of the delays is causing a rise in overtime payments.
Traffic delays on Highway 14 have been an ongoing issue for Sooke for many years, but the problem has been exacerbated in recent months by works to upgrade Charters Road, which “remains on schedule” to be completed by October.
A petition launched in June, which calls for the B.C. government’s immediate attention to address the traffic gridlock, now has close to 3,100 signatures as of Monday, July 22.
An online fundraiser has also been launched to raise $15,000, in addition to $10,000 already pledged by the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce, to help fund the hiring of an “expert engineer” to work with municipal staff to explore and implement critical traffic improvements.
“When people are close to tears describing how this is hurting their business, I just want to jump in and help,” said business owner Susan Jones, who launched the petition and fundraiser. “I don't know if Home Hardware have enough shovels for us to go out there and dig up a road ourselves. But you know, it's to that extreme.”
In a statement on July 17, the District of Sooke said that it was continuing to monitor traffic delays on Highway 14 as part of efforts to address ongoing congestion concerns. And in her July mayoral message, Maja Tait said the council’s resources are dedicated to addressing short, medium, and long-term solutions for Sooke’s transportation needs.
But for Sooke business owners, time is running out.
“One guy told me, 'It’s like, do we keep going? At what point do we pull the pin?'” teacher Greg Jacobson told Sooke News Mirror about a conversation he had with a local business owner. “And this is a someone who's in their fifties considering another 10 years to dig themselves out of a hole or do they just pull the pin now?”
