Great news on Thursday (March 29, 2012). Minister of Transportation Blair Lekstrom announced an 8 million dollar project to add 5.4 km of median barriers to the Malahat Highway on Vancouver Island.

Click the thumbnail to get PDF map of the Malahat highway improvements.      

Generally I am very pleased to see some progress made towards improving safety. Cross-over crashes have claimed too many lives.

Some people say the Highway is safe - but its the drivers. Yes drivers do need to slow down - however the majority of people killed were not speeding or drunk.

I had hoped the government would in addition to these short term improvements have laid out a larger more ambitious plan for the Malahat. The Malahat needs a long term plan to be upgraded to a fully divided four lane highway. Traffic volumes are increasing every year, Langford on the Malahat's southern edge is the fastest growing community (percentage wise) in BC so the pressure on the existing road will only get worse year by year. Can you imagine the volumes in 20 years from now with no improvement through (or preferable around) Goldstream Park.

Dispite these quibbles - kudos to Blair Lekstrom and the government for getting something done.