Those eager for the results of a long-anticipated review of Highway 101 will have to be a little more patient.
“I gather the ministry had the intention that this was quite a quick project, but it has taken longer than they expected,” said Ian Hall, general manager for planning and community development at a Jan. 16 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) transportation advisory committee.
Hall said the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has advised the SCRD that “they have completed the problem definition phase of this project and are drafting options that flow from that.”
MOTI has been invited to present its findings in February, according to Hall, who said he was not able to provide details on what problems have been identified. Colin Midgley, who was the only MOTI representative at the meeting, did not have much more to add. “We’re just identifying potential conflict locations,” he said.
During the pre-work phase of the project, the ministry contacted SCRD for a list of known issues, and staff went through “about a decade’s worth of correspondence,” where particular items and motions had been made relating to that section of the highway, said Hall.
The ministry has been reviewing the performance of the highway between Langdale and the Redrooffs Road exit nearest to Sechelt, with a focus on safety, travel time, congestion, as well as analysis on the impact of increased ferry traffic.
The review was initially prompted by Sunshine Coast community groups who circulated petitions demanding safety improvements on the highway, and for the creation of a new highway between Langdale and Sechelt.
Later in the meeting, Elphinstone director Donna McMahon said MOTI operations manager Michael Braun had put in a budget request for additional line painting for collector roads such as Lower Road, Redrooffs Road and Francis Peninsula Road.
