Malahat safety improvement project is done and all 4 lanes are open

All 4 lanes are now OPEN on the Malahat.  Safety improvements along more than 5 kms of Highway 1, from Shawnigan Lake Road to Aspen Road, is complete with 65% of the highway now protected with a median barrier. 

Besides 3 kms of median barrier, the $34-million project also included expanding the section to 4 lanes with wider shoulders, and providing improved access to the highway through a frontage and back road system with a new turnaround facility, and improved overhead lighting at intersections.

There could still be sporadic lane closures this month to make minor adjustments and for site cleanup.

Premier John Horgan -- also the MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca area -- is thanking the travelling public for their patience while the project was underway, and says his government is looking at ways to keep traffic moving when accidents close the route down.

One focus area is in the of Goldstream park.  Engineering work is scheduled to start early next year to explore adding an additional 1.5 kms of median barriers north of the West Shore Parkway to just north of Finlayson Arm Road.

The Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Claire Trevena, acknowledges when the roadway is closed it cuts of the south end of the island, and her ministry is working to expedite short- and long-term solutions.

Trevana has directed staff to look at the viability of a second route around the Malahat in case of an emergency and will be ready to share more information later in the fall. On an average day 24-thousand cars pass over the Malahat -- 30-thousand during summer.