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Feds fork out funds as Greater Victoria continues bus lane improvements

Southbound Highway 1 and Douglas Street lane in Saanich gets $4.9 million
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Victoria-Swan Lake MLA Rob Fleming and Victoria Regional Transit Commission chair Susan Brice listen as Carla Qualtrough, federal minister of public services, announces next phase of bus-only lanes for Highway 1 at the B.C. legislature Wednesday. (Black Press)

A second bus-only lane between the Burnside bridges and Tolmie Avenue on Highway 1 in Saanich is the latest part of transit improvements for Greater Victoria’s increasingly congested highways.

READ ALSO: Bikes welcome in Douglas Street bus lane until it hits Saanich border

Carla Qualtrough, federal minister of public services, announced Ottawa’s share of the financing at the B.C. legislature Wednesday. The $4.9 million federal share combines with the $11 million provincial share for the southbound lane project, matching the northbound lane completed in December.

READ ALSO: New Victoria bus lane to ‘save people valuable time’: Province

Susan Brice, chair of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, said the ongoing improvements have already made riding the bus more attractive as transit is moving faster than the often-clogged traffic entering the city from the north.

The new lane establishes a system of continuous bus lanes in both directions between the Mackenzie interchange and downtown Victoria.


@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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