With all the idyllic joys that late summer brings, it’s easy to forget the pitfalls, but as we draw closer to the madness of the fall semester, traffic has increasingly been on my mind. The Capital Regional District (CRD) doesn’t suffer the harsh winters that halt construction the way the rest of the country does, but the powers that be still insist on cramming all the road closures and traffic delays into these sultry summer days.
The cities and municipalities that make up the CRD (Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Langford, etc.) also doesn’t like to make it overly obvious where their next trap or quagmire is going to appear, but if you set the right Google alerts and follow the right X handles, you can usually glean which areas to avoid.
Camosun students who go to the Interurban campus, and anyone who lives in the deeper reaches of Saanich (presumably on a dairy farm), buckle up, because upgrades to infrastructure on West Saanich Road between Hillgrove Road and Cypress Road will be causing delays until the end of September, as well as rerouting of bus routes 7, 15, 85, and the major Interurban campus artery, route 21.
Still, riders of these routes are luckier than anyone trying to take the 17 Cedar Hill or 76 UVic/Swartz Bay this summer, as they have been discontinued until September. To hell with it, right?
If you’re coming to Lansdowne campus from the Westshore, there will be inconsistent periods of blasting happening near the City Gate Boulevard exit and the Kodiak Way exit. Compound that with the usual Colwood Crawl mishigas, and I would advise developing a podcast addiction so you don’t die of boredom. Also, make sure your A/C works, as it can take forever to blow up some rocks. (They should let me have a go at it.)
If you’re coming to Lansdowne from local areas lying to the southwest of campus, such as Esquimalt, James Bay, Cook Street Village, or downtown, Blanshard Street between Caledonia Avenue and Kings Road is experiencing slower traffic and periodic delays due to the city… laying some pipe.
Quadra Street and Cook Street are both receiving overhauls that include multiple stages, from the sewer lines to the traffic lights, so it’s highly advised avoiding it if at all possible (it’s not really possible, so give yourself extra time). Affected areas are Quadra between Burdett Avenue and Pandora Avenue, as well as Cook Street for a massive stretch between Bay Street and Maplewood Road. That one is a doozy and smells weird. Again, A/C is your friend.
The Johnson Street Bridge, that thing that resembles a pinball machine flipper, is also getting a facelift in the form of “washing and coating.” Coating with what, you ask? That’s none of our business. This will cause intermittent delays, so plan ahead or potentially get coated.
Both Gorge Road and Tillicum Road are getting complete overhauls with new and surprising intersections, extended bike lanes (oh, be quiet—I’m a motorist too, and they aren’t that bad), and new asphalt. This will have them reduced to single-lane alternating traffic, and it’s gonna get really icky in there at rush hour. Also, this is planned to last for 18 months, so you better get used to it. Like I said, podcasts and A/C. Maybe bring some snacks.
The stress of these various delays will be fading into memory when you finally arrive at your destination, ready to soak up some knowledge and engage in the Socratic quest for higher education. Alas, if your destination is the Lansdowne campus, the parking lot is in absolute disarray, the entrances and exits have all changed, and the whole thing is a labyrinthine work site. With reduced available parking. A perfectly sideways ending to a perfectly hair-pulling drive into school.