So the Highway 14 expansion is well underway, and getting in and out of Sooke will finally be easier. Right?
Frankly, no.
The road expansion isn’t for you and me, it’s an $80-million gift to developers. “It’s now easier to get in and out of town” will be the sales pitch. And it might be – maybe even for a full year after completion. But there are another 1,500 houses on the books for Sooke. That means 2,000 more cars on the road trying to get in and out at the same time as everyone else is trying to get in and out of Sooke. You may as well live in Langford – at least you’d be closer to shopping.
More than 2,000 additional cars on the road will also make the climate emergency that much worse and that much harder to solve.
The province is counting on individual transportation reduction and the change to electric cars to make a visible dent in greenhouse gas production. But then we spend $80 million to make it easier to put more cars on the road. If you want a planet, or even just a better life, you need to demand better.
E.B. Klassen
Sooke
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