The B.C. Provincial Government, in partnership with the Federal Government, announced a $95 million partnership on Monday, July 29.
The funding will widen around 3.8 kilometres of the highway between the McKenzie and Colwood interchanges to better support continuous bus-on-shoulder lanes running on the TransCanada Highway. B.C. transportation minister Rob Fleming said these improvements will complement those made on Highway 14.
"The province's contribution is $67 million," Fleming said. "The feds are in for 28 million."
Fleming also said the project includes the widening of the bridge on Burnside, with the province providing $35 million for the construction.
"To have a seamless rapid transit service to the West Shore, it is about $130 million in improvements," Fleming said.
A tender for the project has yet to be announced, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2025, according to Fleming.
"Construction will take the better part of two years because there will be some traffic management considerations," said Fleming.
Ravi Parmar, MLA Langford-Juan de Fuca, who still takes the bus said these improvements will make it easier to travel in and out of the West Shore.
"This project not only includes dedicated bus-on-shoulder lanes. It also includes a new rapid bus stop," Parmar said.
The improvement to transit will help lower greenhouse emissions while supporting the rapidly growing West Shore, which continues to be one of the fastest-growing communities in all of Canada.
Parmar said these improvements would be among the largest investments seen on the West Shore.
"The bus will become one of the most appealing options for quickly getting from the West Shore to downtown," Parmar said.
Since the Rapid Bus service was launched, over 140 buses per hour move around 36,000 passengers in the capital region, said Alan Lamb, BC Transit vice president of assets management and chief sustainability officer.
"BC Transit represents three per cent of the traffic while carrying approximately 40 per cent of the people," Lamb said.
These changes will help ease congestion and allow people to spend less time stuck in their cars, said BC minister of state for child care Mitzi Dean.
"Preserving the quality of family life so that you're not spending to much time in transit," Dean added.
Langford mayor Scott Goodmanson said that the improvements will not just benefit people living in the West Shore but everyone in Greater Victoria.
"It is freeing up that transportation system everywhere," he said. "Eventually, we will have a much more efficient system."
