Eight months into a 10-month road work project, it might seem surprising it took just a few days of extended backups before Salt Spring Island drivers started seriously complaining — first to one another online, then to local officials and media outlets, ultimately prompting the Ministry of Transportation and Transit to issue an empathetic statement.
But while driver delays had been inconvenient during the first days of May, an unfortunate set of poorly-timed events conspired to bring Salt Spring motorists to the brink on Tuesday, May 13 — leading to perhaps the biggest non-livestock-related traffic jam in island history.
To set the scene: the $22.9-million improvement project on Fulford-Ganges Road from Seaview Avenue to Cranberry Road has been underway since September, and thus far drivers covering that 1.6 kilometres have seen delays ranging from zero to roughly 20 minutes.
Those traffic slowdowns did increase as work accelerated and pulverizing began, but things truly came to a head May 13 as several events — none directly connected to the provincial road improvement project — happened nearly at once.
That day, as had become nearly routine, road crews operated first one then two sections of Fulford-Ganges Road as single-lane, alternating traffic — sporadically and briefly blocking the road in both directions when trucks or equipment needed to unload or turn around.
Slightly adding to congestion, Lady Minto Hospital Foundation staff confirmed concrete was being poured May 13 at the foundation’s Bittancourt Road project — the 18-unit healthcare worker housing effort underway at the site of the former Seabreeze Motel — meaning large trucks turning on and off Fulford-Ganges Road interacted with the existing slowdown.
Meanwhile, Emcon Services Inc. crews began unrelated all-day asphalt repairs on Atkins Road between Lower Ganges Road and Swanson Road, causing drivers attempting to dodge much of downtown Ganges via Rainbow Road to double back and re-enter the traffic line they hoped to avoid.
And back at Drake Road off Fulford-Ganges Road, BC Housing confirmed construction crews were on-site for water service work — to effect fire suppression equipment at the supportive and affordable housing project being constructed there — with that new water main expected to be complete this month.
Then, the coup de grace: in the midst of it all — and likely having the worst day of anyone — a semi-truck pulling an empty 50-foot flatbed broke down at the base of Ganges Hill by Seaview Avenue. The truck was successfully towed away, but not before snarling traffic further for many drivers.
By that evening, while a few had experienced relatively “clear sailing” through Ganges, many reported the worst delays at different times of day had exceeded 90 minutes, for a drive islanders typically expect to take less than five.
While unlikely to ameliorate such a “perfect storm” of mishap, the ministry shared it had communicated with contractors, asking them to consider “flushing” traffic through as-needed, rather than on set schedules, which may improve flow during busier times of day.
With already extended 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. active hours for crews, which will include weekdays and some Sundays not attached to long weekends, major disruptions are still expected to end, with project managers reiterating publicly last week that the work will be substantially complete by July 1.