Park and ride options on the West Shore have been narrowed down to three locations, but residents may have to wait a while before they are actually built.
As part of the Island Highway Transit Priority Project, BC Transit, along with consultant group SNC-Lavalin Inc., decided three favourable spots for park and ride options would be on Six Mile Road at the Colwood interchange, close to the Langford exchange at Station Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway, and the Luxton Fairgrounds.
Lyndsay Taylor, a senior planner with BC Transit, said the three locations were chosen for their proximity to a frequent transit network.
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B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 easy access for people to drive and park their cars and hop on a bus from there,B次元官网网址� Taylor said.
A report submitted to BC Transit by SNC-Lavalin Inc. identifies 12 possible park and ride options on the West Shore. The consultant group ranked each option by looking at park and ride capacity, connectivity to bus routes, walking distance to bus routes, the nature of the park and ride sites, impact on neighbourhood land-use and looking at the locations in a regional context.
The 12 options were also split up into seven near term locations and five long term locations.
According to the consultant groupB次元官网网址檚 criteria, the Station Avenue near Veterans Memorial Parkway location was ranked first. The Colwood Interchange location was ranked third, preceded by a proposed park and ride area at Goldstream Avenue and Peatt Road.
Luxton Fairgrounds was ranked as the best option for a long term park and ride facility.
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The Station Avenue location would hold about 161 park and ride spots while the Colwood Interchange location would have 152 and Luxton Fairgrounds would have 545.
But BC Transit is still in very early phases when it comes to planning for these park and ride locations, Taylor said.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e still at the concept level,B次元官网网址� Taylor said. B次元官网网址淥nce we have more detailed designs and a budget, it will be something to look at in the future.B次元官网网址�
The other nine options are something BC Transit will keep in mind for the future as well, Taylor said.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e moving forward with these three in terms of creating concepts and geometric designs of them,B次元官网网址� Taylor said. B次元官网网址淏ut weB次元官网网址檝e identified in the long term, say in the next 10 years, weB次元官网网址檒l need about 500 more spots than we have today.B次元官网网址�
For now, BC Transit is focusing on a different part of the Island Highway Transit Priority Project which includes dedicated bus lanes, queue-jump lanes and traffic signal priority for buses on Island Highway.
Taylor said BC Transit will continue to work with West Shore municipalities to advance plans for park and ride possibilities in the future.
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com
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