The District of Highlands is discussing the idea of slowing down drivers taking advantage of a shortcut to bypass the Colwood Crawl.
The Capital Region's smallest and arguably quietest municipality says it's searching for a solution to motorists who use its rural roads as a shortcut to sneak past the clogged Trans-Canada Highway.
That solution could include reducing the speed limit throughout the district to 30 kilometres an hour.
"It's just being thrown out as a number to start having the conversation around that. What would that mean? What are the implications of that?" said Highlands Coun. Ann Baird.
Residents say they're seeing more fed-up commuters trying to skip traffic by taking Millstream Road, which connects cars from the West Shore to the Saanich Peninsula.
"A lot of them go down Munn [Road] to Prospect [Lake Road] and then some come through Ross Durrance, which is a very thin road," said Highlands resident Les Allen.
West Shore RCMP spokesman Const. Matt Baker said police are aware of increased vehicle traffic through the community.
"[It] brings a certain amount of driving behaviour, it's just how the ratio works," said Baker.
Residents say lowering the speed limit from 50 km/h in some parts of the community to 30 km/h overall could help stop speeders.
"It's a good idea if people actually do the speed limit," said Allen.
Some have pushed for a more regional approach, such as building off the shortcut to add another major artery to and from the growing West Shore.
But that's a path many locals don’t want to go down.
"The community doesn't want that change. They want to be able to walk to the neighbours, they want to be able to participate in their community," said Baird.
The issue will be discussed at an upcoming council meeting, but Baird said it's only a conversation and nothing has been approved at this point.
