As recently announced in the media, a high tech and advanced manufacturing park will be opening in Langford sometime in 2014.
Kudos to the forward thinking of Langford mayor and council and WestShore Chamber of Commerce for helping secure this for Langford.
Moreover, as per these announcements the proposed location is off Leigh Road with good highway access.
Just as important is the labour accessibility and mobility security that Langford has developed by the increased density around the proposed site, especially along Goldstream Avenue.
In transportation planning there is the concept of origin-destination. In this tech park case we know the destination.
Therefore we need to ensure we prevent congestion of the recently upgraded road capacity (Leigh Road interchange and the Millstream Interchange a decade ago) to ensure the cost-effective and efficient necessary delivery of goods and services.
More specifically, the greater residential urban density in proximity of the tech park will limit the amount of traffic disruption caused by the workers themselves.
Langford had a few years to plan for this light manufacturing activity, to minimize traffic headaches, and they spent them well. Workers will have a choice as to mode of transportation, walking, cycling, transit or automobile.
Finally, with the current and new Belmont secondary school there may opportunities for apprenticeships or co-ops for these students who are also within a short distance of the proposed site.
Avi Ickovich
Langford
