No highway improvement will happen in Davis Bay, following the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI)'s rejection of Sechelt council's proposal for a modified project that would nix a contentious left turn bay at Highway 101 and Davis Bay Road.
Council's proposal was for MOTI to put in a traffic light at Davis Bay Road, plus improve the Whitaker and Westly intersections - but all without going forward with a southbound left turn bay at Davis Bay Road.
Sechelt chief administrative officer Rob Bremner said that MOTI has rejected council's proposal and is currently in discussions with the federal government - the funding partner for half the project's $2.5 million price tag - to see if project funds can be reallocated for work on Selma Park hill.
"At this point in time [MOTI is] talking with the federal government, one of the partners in it, and there's certainly some idea that they might do something up on Selma Park," Bremner said.
Council's stated top priorities for Selma Park include general highway widening to deal with the area's narrow shoulders, plus intersection improvements at Selma Park Road, Nestman Road and Havies Road.
Mayor Darren Inkster said he was disappointed that MOTI rejected council's proposed compromise to proceed with some Davis Bay work without putting in the turn bay, but said that he had to defer to MOTI's expertise.
"How far can I go down the road of disagreeing with [MOTI] when I don't have that expertise?" he queried. "But do I think there needs to be some flexibility? Yes. I think there always needs to be flexibility with plans and with funding, and that was the issue with this one - that there wasn't the kind of flexibility I felt we needed to work with the community to get some improvements done on Highway 101 through that corridor."
Yet Inkster said he's "quite optimistic" that the community will see the long-sought work done on Selma Park hill.
"I think in working with these partners that we can look forward to some significant work going up that hill," he said. "And as [MOTI] has said all the way along, once they start improving that hill, they'll continue with it over the next number of years."
