A winning design has been chosen for a long-awaited interchange that will address Vancouver Island’s worst traffic bottleneck.
The $85-million interchange at McKenzie Avenue and Admirals Road will be built as a partial cloverleaf design with the Trans-Canada Highway running below it.
B.C. Transportation and Infrastructure Minster Todd Stone announced the design at a news conference on the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria Tuesday morning.
He said the decision on the cloverleaf design was reached following extensive public engagement, and more than 75 per cent of respondents supported the option.
“I’m really proud of this option because it reflects a tremendous number of changes that were the direct result of public input,” Stone said. “The cycling components, for example, are very different in this final design than they were in the original three designs, and that’s because the cycling community here in the Capital Region was actively engaged in helping us make sure that we get it right.”
That includes a separated route for a wider Galloping Goose trail with a new path over the highway.
Other changes to the final design include bus lanes, transit priority signals, improved connection to bus stops and a second right turn lane off of McKenzie Avenue due to congestion concerns.
Stone said the project will get underway this fall and should be completed within a few years.
The government will hold a final public open house at St. Joseph the Worker Parrish Hall on May 18 to communicate all changes in the design to the public.
