I am appalled at the lack of foresight and planning in the new traffic islands preventing a left turn out and a left turn into Townsend Road.
In the name of safety these islands have been installed with no reasonable alternative in place for residents and users to services at CASA and the businesses located at Sooke Road.
Apparently the township considers a lengthy detour through the residential neighborhood of upper Townsend Road and Rhodonite Drive a reasonable alternative but, in my opinion, the detour is too long to be feasible and instead encourages turnabouts in parking lots not designed for through traffic.
This has taken place at a time of year when everyone is busy with Christmas and too busy to voice objection and without polling local residents for their input beforehand. The access into Townsend is awkwardly narrow which could present problems for the vans that transport special needs persons and children using the facilities at CASA especially in inclement weather.
The left turn onto Townsend Road was served by a designated lane and presented no safety issues. The left turn out of Townsend Road is problematic only at certain hours of the day and could have been resolved sufficiently with a ‘No Left Turn’ sign for those times.
I understand there are future plans for a roundabout at the entrance to Evergreen Mall which would solve the no left access onto Townsend Road in one direction, but these plans are still unapproved and unfinanced.
The Townsend Road islands were scheduled for 2013 but somehow were pushed through ahead of time. It clearly is putting the cart before the horse and extremely poor and inconsiderate planning to implement a detour system prior to providing a reasonable alternate route.
One has to question who is responsible, and their competence in decisions that affect the planning of our town.
Liza Dawson-
Whisker
Sooke
