The Town of View Royal is looking to improve the Helmcken park and ride.
The property was acquired years ago before the interchange was constructed. The park and ride is a leftover parcel from the construction, controlled and operated by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Mayor David Screech said that the park and ride has been a bone of contention over the years because the ministry doesn’t enforce litter pick-up or ensure that people parking in the lot are actually transit passengers.
Screech said they thought it was time to take a closer look and they would like to see it used for what it was intended for and not for free parking for hospital staff. Victoria General Hospital is across the street, and Screech said hospital staff that use the parkade leaving transit passengers out of luck.
The park and ride area has been dealing with overflow problems for a while, and the Town has had to put up residential only parking signs in the neighbourhood, Screech said.
He said the area is currently not fully optimized, and there’s also a bigger land parcel closer to the highway, which could increase park and ride spaces.
Screech said they will take a look at bringing B.C. Transit into the fold to provide assurance that transit commuters are the only people using the park and ride.
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