A gas price war in Langford this past weekend led to lineups of cars spilling out onto the street and prices as low as 102.9 cents per litre.
Reportedly started by Costco, prices began to fall at Langford gas stations Friday afternoon. By 5 p.m. there was a line of cars out of the Chevron station at Goldstream Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway that was beginning to block traffic.
And that was for gas priced at 117.9 cents per litre. Prices continued to fall over the weekend, as the traffic continued to rise with motorists trying to cash in on the cheap fuel.
RCMP were called out to the Goldstream Avenue Chevron after getting complaints about cars blocking the street.
But when police got there, traffic was getting through, said Corporal Raj Sandhu.
It is a traffic violation to block a lane because cars are lining up to turn into a business, such as a gas station.
Westshore Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Dan Spinner said he can’t explain what starts the wars but that having the rush of business to Langford can’t be bad. Spinner jokingly wondered if people hadn’t gone a bit far to save a few bucks.
“You gotta wonder about people, God bless them, would drive from Sidney to save $10 but spend $10 in gas,” Spinner said with a laugh. “I think it’s psychological. … We feel so powerless around the price of gas when it hits the pump, this might be an expression of that lack of power.”
We’re happy to have the business, I’m happy to see West Shore business be creative and competitive and that’s all good.”
On Monday, the lowest price for gas in the region was at Costco, which was at 102.9 cents per litre, according to victoriagasprices.com. The Goldstream Avenue Chevron was back up to 139.9 cents per litre.
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