Ocean Boulevard should reopen but only after mitigation issues are addressed.
As residents who live directly on Lagoon Road we have been subjected, day and night, with vehicles travelling at excessive speed (120+ km/h), with loud mufflers and litter thrown from vehicles. When there is a police presence it helps, however, the police cannot patrol 24/7 as they have other areas of concern. When the road was open we were seeing 250 to 400 vehicles during the morning and evening commutes, with vehicles averaging of 65 km/h in a 40 zone.
Things are bound to become a lot worse in the future with the plan to build 2,500 additional residences in Royal Bay. Why should Lagoon Road, Milton and Ocean Boulevard be used as a work corridor when it was never intended to be one as per the 40 km/h posted speed limit that most everyone chooses to ignore.
As for the increased traffic on Metchosin and Sooke roads, that’s exactly where the traffic should be, on the commute corridor roads. The city needs to install speed bumps on Lagoon, Milton and Ocean Boulevard. There are speed bump designs that allow for passage of emergency vehicles while restricting passenger vehicle speeds. It would appease the residents who live directly on Milton and Lagoon as well as the many people who walk along Ocean Boulevard.
The only ones who would be not happy is the constant parade of nightly and daily speedsters who like to race on Lagoon Road, Milton and Ocean Boulevard, along with the speeding commuters to and from work. The issue is not if but when there will be a major accident due to excessive speed that the city continues to ignore.
Don McNeil
Colwood