The most recent draft of the integrated transportation study was presented to the public Feb. 4. It highlighted eight main areas of interest: traffic surges, sharp curves on the highway, critical intersections, alternate highway routes, buses, highway bypass options, round-a-bouts in Gibsons and the needs of cyclists and pedestrians on the Coast.
At the start of the meeting, presenter Bernard Abelson, senior transportation engineer with ISL Engineering and Land Services, explained the need for a region-wide plan to address the Coast's transportation issues.
"This plan is not a bylaw. It involves a general regional plan so the region can speak with one voice in a mutual voice of harmony as much as we can when we lobby for improvements to the regional highway system," Abelson said. "We don't want Sechelt saying one thing and Gibsons saying another and the Sechelt Indian Band saying another. It's a conceptual long-term plan so we can speak with one voice and co-ordinate what we do amongst ourselves."
To reach that goal, ISL Engineering and Land Services has been working on the study since 2009, collecting input from local governments and citizens and making changes to reflect the majority consensus in four different drafts that have come forward.
"There's still probably some areas of fine tuning that have to occur, but it's down from dozens and dozens of issues to about 10 issues now," Abelson said. "So after this meeting, information will be taken and there will be a report sent to the regional district on outstanding issues for further change before the plan is taken for consideration of acceptance."
His presentation to the public last Friday started with a look at traffic surges that show an increase of 200 per cent in traffic when the ferry unloads and vehicle traffic comes into Gibsons.
Research done by ISL Engineering shows that about 65 per cent of that traffic surge is destined for places other than Gibsons, which brought up the option of a highway bypass or perhaps a round-a-bout in Gibsons to calm traffic and separate those who want to visit Gibsons from the travellers who are just passing through.
"Because these traffic surges are so dramatic, it creates a business case in the long term for a ferry to ferry bypass. That's a vision that has been identified by this community and should never be forgotten," Abelson said.
The bypass option is something that the Sunshine Coast has wanted for more than 20 years, but the sheer expense of the proposition seems to have kept the provincial government from moving forward with it.
Knowing a bypass is still years away from possibly being built, another option was presented.
"There's a more short- to medium-term option that would look at channeling people through North Reed Road, down into Payne Road and back onto the highway. The system being recommended is a series of round-a-bouts," said Abelson.
The idea of a highway bypass came up again when looking at an inventory of possible alternate routes along Highway 101. It was shown that only about 40 per cent of the highway has an alternate way to drive around in the event of an accident that shuts down the highway. That leaves 60 per cent of the highway vulnerable to a shut down, which would leave drivers stranded until an accident is cleaned up.
Another assessment of Highway 101 was done to highlight sharp curves that could be smoothed out. It was found that the majority of sharp curves are in the north end of the Coast, but a great deal of blasting would have to be done to help solve the problem.
"This kind of roadwork is very expensive so the consensus is that it is not seen as a priority area," Abelson said.
When looking at critical intersections on the Coast, Abelson said Redrooffs Road is a "key intersection."
"When you come out of Redrooffs onto the highway you have to make a 15 degree angle turn, which makes all movements there very unsafe," he said.
Other intersections brought up were the Mercer Road intersection in Secret Cove and the Field Road intersection in Wilson Creek. Overall, about 20 different intersections were looked at in the report and found to need upgrades.
"The priority of work on these intersections is really up to the Sunshine Coast Regional District. They will have to go back into these and decide what they want to do," Abelson said.
It was shown that 89 per cent of trips on the Sunshine Coast are made by private vehicles, which led to talk about the need for better bus service and cyclist/pedestrian friendly roadways to lower that percentage.
Abelson said more frequent bus service would result in more use of the service and more reliance on it from commuters who need to catch the ferry. There was also talk of creating park-and-ride stations throughout the Coast to encourage use of the bus service. Selling bus passes on the ferry and marketing the service more there could also have a positive effect on ridership.
Sunshine Coast Transit will be undergoing a full transit review in 2013, and they plan to investigate these options at that time.
In the area of pedestrian and cyclist transportation needs, it was felt that a widening of shoulders on the highway and a regular cleaning of those shoulders would result in more cyclist and pedestrian use of the roadways. There was also talk of creating cycling networks away from the highway and marketing bike rentals from local cycle shops to encourage the green transportation.
Abelson encouraged an alternate transportation committee be established to help identify other needs for cyclists and pedestrians on the Coast.
The full report is available for viewing online at www.scrd.ca.
