BC Transit's Burnside Gorge operations centre between Gorge Road East and Douglas Street in Victoria remains the primary transit yard in the Capital. A supporting Langford facility is situated on Leigh Road at Henry Eng Place, and starting in 2025, work will begin on a third transit yard for fixed-route services, in Saanich's Royal Oak neighbourhood where handyDART services are currently headquartered. Next year, handyDART operations will move to a new facility in View Royal to make room for a Saanich Transit Centre. Citified.ca
Saanich lands to become BC Transit’s third full-size bus depot and ops centre
Mike Kozakowski, Citified.ca
Published August 20, 2024
A transit fleet expansion and additional maintenance facilities are on the horizon for BC Transit as the transportation agency moves towards a Saanich-based bus depot and operations centre.
Planned for properties totalling six acres between Commerce Circle and Glanford Avenue in Saanich’s Royal Oak neighbourhood, a proposed Saanich Transit Centre will support BC Transit’s transition to an electric bus fleet, and help the system manage its growth trajectory throughout the Capital Region, according to an internal BC Transit release shared with Citified.
The Saanich yard will support BC Transit’s Burnside Gorge facility in the City of Victoria and its Langford Transit Centre on Leigh Road at Henry Eng Place.
In its statement to employees, BC Transit says the Royal Oak location “is well-positioned for an additional operations and maintenance facility to support increasing transit service for the Victoria Region,” adding that “the location and current use of the site for BC Transit’s handyDART operations make it well-suited to make this site our next fixed route operations and maintenance facility.”
A purpose-built handyDART depot is currently under construction in View Royal, fronting the Trans Canada Highway at Burnside Road. Its completion is anticipated in 2025, at which point handyDART operations will transition from the Saanich lands to View Royal.
Already underway at the Royal Oak depot are geotechnical, archeological and environmental assessments, and building demolition will start next year. BC Transit says a design consultant is being retained to oversee site preparation. More information on site works will be forthcoming in the fall, according to BC Transit.
To support the Saanich Transit Centre, BC Transit says senior government funding will be required, along with municipal land-use approvals and a development permit. The organization says environmental protection will be applied throughout the redevelopment phase, and environmental protection standards will exceed municipal, provincial and federal requirements. Community and indigenous engagement “will inform each phase of planning and design,” BC Transit’s statement reads.
On BC Transit’s website, costs for initial work at the Saanich Transit Centre are budgeted at nearly $50 million.
“Funding for preliminary site preparation was announced in December 2023. The overall project budget for this preparatory work is $48 million. The Government of Canada and the Province of BC are both investing $19.13 million in this project, and the Victoria Regional Transit Commission is contributing $9.56 million.” C
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