Langford Mayor Stew Young’s criticism of a proposed regional transportation authority demonstrates why it’s so badly needed. The Capital Regional District has been struggling to come up with some sort of regional approach to transportation planning, integrating roads and transit and trails and development.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, View Royal Mayor David Screech and Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt proposed forcing the issue — passing a resolution to create a regional transportation authority unless opponents could obtain the signatures of 10 per cent of voters in the region.
Young was against the idea, which was rejected as divisive this week by the CRD board.
But his arguments show why it’s needed.
“I don’t need a study to tell me what I want,” Young said. The Trans-Canada Highway between the West Shore and downtown Victoria should be widened and dedicated high-occupancy vehicle/bus lanes built.
That is a major problem. But addressing it in isolation could easily backfire, relocating congestion rather than reducing it. The McKenzie interchange, for example, is much needed, but the lack of co-ordinated transportation planning means that when it is finally completed, the bottlenecks might just shift to new locations, such as Quadra and McKenzie, and Tillicum and the Trans-Canada. An integrated approach anticipates those effects and reduces those risks.
Langford’s mayor also suggests — rightly — that the challenge is winning provincial funding for needed projects within the province’s responsibility, which he sees as each municipality’s job.
But now every municipality is pushing its own projects, and the provincial government can easily ignore a string of conflicting requests from small local governments.
A single, unified voice with agreed-on priorities would be much more effective. (And avoid blunders like the McTavish interchange, inexplicably funded by federal and provincial governments.)
Young is right in sounding an alarm about the cost of a transportation authority and the risk of gridlock by study. The CRD’s performance on sewage treatment has undermined public confidence.
So set a limit. The 13 municipalities spent about $59 million on transportation projects and planning in 2015. Allocate two per cent of that for the regional authority, with the option of applying for project funding as needed. That will also ensure the authority mines the research and planning already done by municipal governments.
Traffic problems are one of the greatest long-term threats to this region’s quality of life. Municipalities increasing housing supply and new developments are adding hundreds of homes, while congestion increases and travel is becoming increasingly slow, unpleasant and costly.
We need to take serious action now — and a regional transportation authority is an important step.
