Highway 14's new four-lane is nearly ready for traffic across all four lanes, following the completion of paving, the installation of medians, and line painting across a 1.2 kilometre span between Connie and Glinz Lake roads in Sooke. Citified.ca
New four-lane section of Highway 14/Sooke Road between Langford and Sooke nears full opening to traffic
Mike Kozakowski, Citified.ca
Published June 13, 2023
Highway 14’s 1.2-kilometre expansion project in the District of Sooke will soon open to four lanes of traffic between Glinz Lake and Connie roads at the exit to East Sooke.
Part of $86 million in corridor improvements announced by former Premier John Horgan in 2019, the new four-lane section of Sooke Road/Highway 14 spans just over a kilometre and includes a new alignment along with a traffic-separated exit onto Gillespie Road, which serves as the primary corridor for East Sooke and Sooke-proper’s growing Silver Spray community.
Work on the highway expansion began in late 2020 with a ramp up in productivity occurring by early 2021. Highway 14’s new four lane section coincided with an 11 kilometre roadway improvement between Otter Point Road at its Gordons Beach terminus in Otter Point, through to French Beach in Shirley. The latter component widened the road, improved signage and introduced water runoff measures. The Otter Point to Shirley span was completed in late July of 2022.
Along the four-lane portion, in recent weeks road crews have completed paving between Connie and Glinz Lake roads, installed medians, and painted lane markings.
The Glinz Lake Road to Connie Road expansion allows for streamlined access to East Sooke with an underpass below Highway 14 for East Sooke-bound traffic heading westbound from Langford and Victoria, along with a park-and-ride along the highway’s southern frontage adjacent to the 17 Mile Pub. A shortcut onto Gillespie Road for traffic heading eastbound from Sooke’s town centre is part of the overall scope of the project, and will allow motorists to access Gillespie Road via Manzer Road.
As one of British Columbia’s fastest growing communities, Sooke has seen significant growth in its population and housing stock since the early 2000s, and continues to add among the highest volumes of per-capita housing units among its peers on the south Island.
As of the 2021 census, the district-proper’s population had reached 15,000 people, not including the populations of adjacent or Sooke-dependant communities such as East Sooke, Otter Point, Shirley and Jordan River. Sooke’s modern housing stock is also starting to welcome high density forms, with three rental buildings currently under construction and one having recently completed, along with two recently completed condominiums. Three additional rental blocks planned for the town centre are expected to get underway by the end of the year. A large shopping plaza is also proposed, earmarked for a nine-acre parcel west of the town centre.
Although the expanded section of Highway 14 is a welcome new passing opportunity for motorists and streamlines access to East Sooke, the road remains vulnerable to closures where detours, such as between the new highway project to Sooke's town centre, are unavailable outside of a circuitous route via Cowichan Lake and Port Renfrew. Future highway improvements are anticipated in order to alleviate the lack of detour options. C
Receive Citified's timely real-estate news straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter, and connect with us on Facebook:
© Copyright 2023 by Citified.ca. All rights reserved.
Article resources
- Stay up-to-date on all things Highway 14 related with VibrantVictoria
- Looking for a new-build home or commercial space in Victoria? Use Citified to research new-build condos, rentals and commercial spaces
- Follow Citified on Twitter
- Connect with Citified on Facebook
You may be interested in:
Comments
STAY CONNECTED TO CITIFIED