The Malahat highway is the main north / south artery for southern Vancouver Island. Due, among other reasons, to it's relatively serious collision history that shuts down this highway for hours at a time, the provincial government is looking at ways to improve travel on the highway.
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute asks the question "Why Spend a Billion Dollars if a Five-Million Dollar Solution is Better Overall?" The document abstract explains:
The analysis indicates that a combination of bus service improvements, Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies and incremental roadway improvements is the most cost effective and beneficial option.In addition to financial savings this solution provides additional benefits including reduced traveller stress, consumer savings and affordability, improved mobility options for non-drivers, reduced downstream traffic problems, energy conservation and emission reductions.
Link:
I don't travel the Malahat maybe a couple times a year. The Highways Ministry has spent millions of dollars on this piece of road and still many accidents happen. Nothing has really been solved now, has it? The biggest problem I see is driver attitude. What we really need is a Malahat Highway Patrol Division that is constantly monitoring traffic and good old time highway patrol policing 24 hours a day.
The second option and it will happen one day, (maybe not in my time) but a bridge from Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay or in that vicinity which would take probably thousands of vehicles off the Malahat and this would be huge relief for the trucking industry during winter months as well for people commuting back and forth daily. I believe finding an alternate route is a total waste of money. Put it towards a bridge. This would also eliminate a huge amount of traffic off the Mckenzie Interchange. Wake up Ministry of Highways, Victoria BC. But as always, governments never listen to logic. I really think it would pay off this time.
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re Malahat highway