Highway 1 improvements will support and advance RapidBus implementation on Vancouver Island
Colwood, British Columbia, July 29, 2024 — Highway improvements coming to the West Shore communities will help provide faster public transit services for people commuting in southern Vancouver Island after a joint investment of $95 million from the federal and provincial governments.
Funding will widen approximately 3.8 kilometres of the highway between the McKenzie and Colwood Interchanges in order to accommodate continuous northbound and southbound bus- on-shoulder lanes. These lanes will allow the RapidBus service, to use the shoulders along designated areas of the highway to travel.
This work connects improvements being made to the Colquitz Bridges Widening project, including its dedicated bus lanes, and transit improvement work BC Transit is completing from the Six Mile area to View Royal, making one continuous route of easier travel for people between communities.
RapidBus is designed to deliver consistent and frequent bus service, limiting stops to high passenger volume areas. Investing in bus-on-shoulder lanes along Highway 1 will accelerate the service’s implementation, making transit for the South Island faster and more reliable.
Funding for this project will include converting and widening the existing shoulders on Highway 1, as well as realignments to ramps and ramp-terminal intersections, installing roadside barriers, additional signage and warning flashers, and constructing a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists crossing Craigflower Creek. Work is anticipated to start in early 2025 and be completed by late fall 2027. Traffic flow will be maintained during construction.
This project aligns with the South Island Transportation Strategy’s goal to construct more bus lanes along highways and other inter-regional service corridors and more specifically, to develop the Rapid Transit Corridor along Highway 1.