Island Highway – Before and After

Well, the Island Highway Improvement Project is drawing to a close.  The project has had its ups and downs, but the end result was worth the wait.

Community Pride

 World-renowned Vancouver Island artist, Andres Kunert is creating a dramatic stone mural along the service road retaining wall on the Island Highway.  The 60 meter art wall, which is part of the Island Highway Improvement Project (IHIP) will contain approximately 150 tonnes of stone when it is completed at the end of August.

artist Andreas Kunert

 

 

 

Two-Way Traffic to Resume Monday, June 20

Monday morning, June 20^th: Two-way traffic is expected to resume on Island Highway, between Admirals and Helmcken.

There may be minor interruptions between 9:00AM and 3:00 PM, Mondays to Fridays as some minor landscaping works and deficiencies are corrected.

The Town of View Royal wishes to thank residents, businesses and commuters for their patience during the construction of this project.

Island Highway Rain Gardens: More than just flowers

 *** click here for work schedule (june 13-17)*** 

 

With spring finally kicking in, the flurry of activity on Island Highway has produced the raison d’etre of the project: centre median rain gardens. If you haven’t already, check out the Storm Water Treatment section of this site. You will find basic information on rain gardens, as well as a list of native plants that facilitate this process.  There’s a lot more going on than just “pretty flowers in a pot”!

Click on the links below for more information on the importance of storm water management:

• Storm Water Quality
• Storm Water Treatment

Some of the native plants in these rain gardens include: Douglas Maple tree, Autumn Brillance Serviceberry tree, Kinnikinnick, Euonymus ‘Emerald ‘n Gold’ shrubs, Privet Honeysuckle, Yellow Totentilla ‘Gold Finger’, Deer Fern, Slough sedge, Camas Early Blue Violet, Iris, Common rush, Black-eyed susan.

Island Highway Rain Garden Design (not actual specification)

Here is an informative video, courtesy of Washington State University, on creating a rain garden for your own home:

Island Highway – On a Road Diet

Many of our posts have videos from Streetfilms.org, and it’s hard to resist posting another one from the thought-provoking series.  Their well-produced creations synthesize the concepts behind the Island Highway Improvement Project into bite-sized, easy-to-digest packages.

This particular film focuses on a term coined by traffic-calming expert, Dan Burden of Walkable.org.

A “road diet” is defined as “anytime you take any lane out of a road”.

Wait a minute, you say. Aren’t you adding lanes to Island Highway? Why yes, dear reader, you are correct. With so many residential and commercial driveways and the high volume of daily traffic on the two-lane roadway, adding a third, centre left-turn lane proved necessary in making the roadway more efficient. This takes the pressure off vehicles that are turning left, and allows for through-traffic to continue flowing without having to wait behind turning vehicles.  The same goes for bus-pullouts.  Adding bike lanes and sidewalks was a no-brainer, because let’s face it – we have to share the road. We’re in this together, remember? The centre medians result in less speeding and increased safety. Let’s think about that for a moment… Safety. Would you want to risk a human life just to shave a couple of minutes off your route?

Remember, we’re in this together.

“What’s Up with the Viaducts? A Forum of Possibilities”

The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts in Vancouver are the remnants of  a poorly planned and ultimately rejected freeway system intended to run through Vancouver’s downtown core.  The future of the viaduct system has been a matter of discussion for several years.  Simon Fraser University’s city program and the City of Vancouver, recently co-sponsored the event, “What’s Up with the Viaducts? A Forum on Possibilities”.

\

Related Links:

• Stephen Ree’s blog What’s Up with the Viaducts?
• The Vancouver Sun Forum mulls fate of Vancouver’s Georgia, Dunsmuir Viaducts, April 8, 2011
•  Planning Picture Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaduct Replacement, April 8, 2011
• VIA Architechure The Vancouver Viaduct Debate: Part 1: Does removing a road mean greater congestion?, April 15, 2011

Growing Movement: Highway Removal

Solving traffic congestion in the capital region doesn’t necessarily mean adding more lanes for vehicles.  As John Norquist, president of Congress for New Urbanism, states in this new video from Streetfilms.org:

“What may seem like a simple solution, may in fact result in many unintended side-effects.”

Just take a look to our neighbours in the south, where most of the infrastructure is based on vehicle dependency.  The suburban lifestyle can be costly not only with money but in time.  It can also contribute to serious social and health implications.  For example, the lack of walking-distance amenities can result in isolation, especially with adolescents who depend on their parents to give them a ride everywhere.

The growing pains of reclaiming the city streets have been largely highlighted during construction of the Island Highway Improvement Project. Once completed, it will provide a safer and cleaner route for pedestrians and vehicles, and contribute to a more vibrant community in View Royal.

Here’s another great video from Streetfilms.org that address a growing trend of removing highways from urban centres:

“They drain the life from the neighborhoods around them, they suck wealth and value out of city, and they don’t even move traffic that well during rush hour.”

Sidewalk Work May Continue After 3pm

Please be advised that Don Mann Excavating is pouring sidewalks Tuesday, March 22 and Friday, March 25 (weather permitting) on Island Highway between Plowright Road and the E&N Rail Trestle.  In order to take advantage of the drier weather, work may continue beyond the regular 3:00 PM deadline.  Two-way traffic will be maintained at every possible opportunity, with occasional interruption to traffic while concrete trucks are moved.

Click here for the traffic page.

Walking School Bus to discontinue Friday, March 11

Please be advised that the last day for the Walking School Bus is Friday, March 11.

Sidewalks for the south side of Island Highway from the E&N Trestle to Beaumont Avenue is expected to be installed by Monday, March 28.  This will provide a safe, continuous walkway throughout the project.

Stay tuned for further updates on this.

*** Paving activities for the week of March 14 to March 18. Click here for traffic update.

Traffic Flow to Improve in View Royal

View Royal – Don Mann Excavating, the General Contractor for View Royal’s Island Highway Improvement Project (IHIP), has released an updated paving schedule for the project. The paving schedule outlines critical items required for a functioning roadway that includes the first lift pavement, curbs, sidewalks, and medians. Since July 2010, alternating single-lane traffic has been in effect on Island Highway, between Admirals and Helmcken, from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Mondays to Fridays. By mid-April, the first lift of paving and sidewalks should be complete, and this is expected to result in improved traffic flow through the jobsite.

Utility poles will remain in place until the underground installation of electrical and telecommunications lines are complete. BC Hydro has now arrived on site and has begun their underground installations, and Shaw is expected to begin within the next week. BC Hydro proposes a schedule of six weeks and is mobilizing a second crew from Nanaimo to complete the work in a timely manner. Shaw Cable and BC Hydro have indicated a willingness to work cooperatively in the job site together. TELUS has stated that the undergrounding of their cables will take an additional thirteen weeks.

Additional work such as median rain gardens, traffic signal installation, service connections, pole removal, and final paving is expected to extend beyond the initial target completion date of April 1st with occasional interruptions to traffic.

The $7.4-million federally-funded project began construction in July 2010.  Upon completion the project will include dedicated bike lanes, left-turn lanes, bus pullouts, bioswales in Portage Park and rain gardens in the centre medians that will treat storm water before entering Portage Inlet and Thetis Cove.

Click here to view the pdf version: 2011-02-16_TOVR PRESS RELEASE.

Click here for an update on construction.