$10M in improvements announced for problem-plagued highway in B.C. premier's riding

B.C. Premier John Horgan announced $10 million worth oflong-awaited improvements toaccident-prone Highway 14 on Friday, adding that work will begin immediately.

The spending on the first phase of changes to the highway, also known as SookeRoad, will include bus pullouts,safety signs and a new bridge on Gillespie Road, east of Sooke, as well as new or additionallighting at 18intersections.

Further improvements, including a slow-vehicle pullout and a rest area, were announced for the section of highway that runs west of Sooketo Port Renfrew.

"All of us, not just Sooke residents, want to make sure that we reduce fatalities, we reduce accidents, and the way to do that is to get started on the solutions we're going to need now,"Horgan said at anews conference next to the highway.

The road, which is the only direct connection betweenSookeand Greater Victoria, is inB.C. Premier JohnHorgan'shome riding ofLangford-JuandeFuca.

Horgan, whosaidhe was once rear-ended on the highway when he stopped to allow a bus to pull into traffic, described the highway aschallenging even on an ordinary day.

"But on an evening in November when the rain is coming down in sheets and the fog is coming in off the basin it is an extremely dangerous corridor," he said.

Horganhad pledged action to improve safety and reduce bottlenecks on the only direct link between Sooke and Victoria shortly after becoming premier-designate in July2017.

According to statistics fromICBC, there have been nearly 600 crashes in the past decade in which people have been injured or killed while driving betweenColwoodandSooke.

Matt Barney,assistant fire chief for Sooke, said he was relieved by the planned improvements, which he predicted would help reduce aggressive driving and otherincidents.

Mike Hicks, the regional director for Juan de Fuca, said the announcement is "100 times better" than heexpected because it includes replacement of the one-lane bridge on Gillespie Road at Roche Cove with a new two-lane span.

Gillespie Road is used as the detour route when an incident closes Sooke Road.

"If you can imagine one lane versus two, and the traffic and the problems and the road rage. It's all solved with a two-lane bridge," Hicks said.

Earlier Friday, David Evans, a Sookecoffee house owner and member of the#DividedBy14working group thatcampaigned during the election for improvements to the busy route, told On the Island host Gregor Craigiehe received a phone call from the premier Thursday personally inviting him to the announcement.

Evanssaid he hopes improvements will eventually extend to straightening a particularly twisting and winding stretch of Highway14 between Connie Road and Manzer Road.

"It's a wonderful and very scenic road to drive for 250 days of the year, when it's clear and light out, but it's also a very scary white-knuckleroad for very inexperienced drivers or someone who'snotfamiliar with the area," he said.

With files from CBC Radio One's On the Island