A $34-million transformation is underway on the Malahat to make the notorious highway safer for drivers, but many say it’s causing traffic backups and frustration in the short-term.
Major construction work on the Malahat includes widening a five-kilometre stretch of highway from two lanes to four, and speed limits and lanes have been reduced as a result.
That’s leading to big traffic jams like the one this past Friday, where many people reported that their usually short commutes were getting delayed by hours.
“I sat in that traffic on Friday. From Leigh Road to here it took me two hours,” said Beth Sunderland, who works at the burger restaurant R spot on the highway.
How long does the commute regularly take? “Fifteen minutes,” she said. “I’m pretty mad by the time I get up here, but I also live up here so I know for the next two years I’m going to have to be doing this.”
Some angry drivers have been taking to Twitter with images of traffic jams and venting about the gridlock.
Nightmare traffic continues NB on #Malahat. When will it end? Bumper to bumper traffic for miles. This has been months-enuf already
— Judith Sayers (@kekinusuqs) July 24, 2017
Regular commuters who spoke with CTV News Monday say enough is enough.
“Now I see what they mean by road rage,” said Helen Gilbert. “It’s hot and you’re tired and you want to go home but you can’t go home.”
Sunderland says not only is she regularly getting stuck in traffic, business at the burger joint has suffered because of ongoing construction.
The restaurant is in the heart of the construction zone and has had to shut down Saturday and shorten its hours throughout the week because fewer drivers are stopping in.
“They’re so angry they just want to go home,” she said.
Other drivers said they’re not sure why the bulk of construction work doesn’t take place during the night, when there would surely be fewer drivers.
That question was put to the B.C. government, who said that certain aspects of work can only be completed during the day.
“We have to do a significant amount of blasting,” said Janelle Erwin, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. “The blasting work to be done safely, needs to be done in hours where we do have the light to be able to do that.”
Drivers can expect to continue dealing with bumper-to-bumper commutes for the significant future.
The construction along the Malahat isn’t expected to be done until the fall of 2018.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Robert Buffam
