Engineers alone can’t fix the dangers on Sooke Road. The highway will get safer only when drivers shoulder their responsibility. With demands from local mayors ringing in his ears, Premier John Horgan has promised the province will begin work on improving Highway 14, which most people know as Sooke Road. As the MLA for the area, Horgan knows the road and knows it’s getting busier.
Its hazards are fresh in local minds after the death of Sooke resident Drew Ripley in a crash on Dec. 29.
“It’s an area that in my opinion — and I’m biased — has been neglected over the past number of years,” Horgan said.
“It’s the fastest-growing part of Vancouver Island and, take Surrey out of the equation, it’s among the fastest-growing areas in the province, and transportation infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with that.”
Pushed by rising house prices in the region’s core, people move to Sooke and then drive into the West Shore or the city to work. That has turned what was once a country road into a commuter route that carries far more traffic than it was designed to handle.
Although Horgan believes the previous B.C. Liberal government gave short shrift to the road, it did order staff to do a review. That review landed on the premier’s desk, but he said it wasn’t good enough and sent it back for more work.
Most residents of Greater Victoria have driven Sooke Road at some point. Many drive it every day. It’s two lanes of narrow, winding, forested road, with an incongruous four-lane section that looks as if someone had a piece of a real highway left over and plopped it into the middle of the woods.
Its many curves make it challenging to drive, especially in bad weather. The Insurance Corp. of B.C. documented 1,275 crashes on Highway 14 between Veterans Memorial Parkway in Colwood and Sooke River Road in Sooke from 2006 to 2015.
Mayors Maja Tait of Sooke and Stew Young of Langford said just last week that they want the government to stop dithering and make the road safer.
“We have been waiting a long time, and a lot of people have said: ‘Can you just get on with it!’ ” Tait said.
Fixing the problems won’t be easy, although the transportation ministry said that its study of the corridor found some safety and transit improvements that could be made in the next year or two.
Making the road safer, to most people, means making it wider and straighter. As some have pointed out, however, wider and straighter roads encourage people to drive faster, something too many already do.
For those who commute along it, familiarity breeds contempt for posted speed limits. They want to get to work or back home, as quickly as possible. The frequent drivers are easily recognizable: Their front bumpers fill your rearview mirror.
Upgrading the highway can take out some dangerous curves and add passing lanes, but drivers have to do their part by driving defensively and with respect for others on the road. Police can also help by stepping up enforcement.
Heavy machinery can build a better road, but any road is only as safe as the drivers who use it.
