News & Media

Province to complete intersection safety improvements along highway in Ladysmith

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will soon begin upgrades to the South Davis Road and Trans-Canada Highway intersection, helping to improve the safety of local motorists and those travelling through our area.

In the near future, construction will begin to restrict the highway intersection to only right-in/right-out (RIRO) as well as left-in movements for those exiting the highway and turning onto South Davis Road.

The result of these changes means motorists will no longer be able to turn northbound onto the Trans-Canada Highway from South Davis Road.  Furthermore, turning southbound onto the highway from Baker Road will also be restricted.  

Instead, local motorists may use the North Davis Road/Chemainus Road signalized intersection to gain access to the highway.  Future enhancements by the Province are planned for this intersection in Spring 2022 to ensure its operating efficiently.

Please refer to the attached Road Concept design rendering for a visual representation of future permitted traffic movements.

“Although this is not the outcome we have been advocating for, we are thankful to the Minister and his team for the continued engagement and investment over the last number of years. We will continue to advocate for more convenient access to the Trans-Canada Highway while ensuring that safety is always priority number one,” said Mayor Aaron Stone. 

“I look forward to working with our staff and the Ministry to improve access to the Trans-Canada Highway with connections that make sense including, appropriate acceleration lanes, turn in access, access roads and active transportation considerations. This is a short term safety measure as we continue to push for longer term solutions that adequately support our growing community.”

The MOTI anticipates that the resulting construction at South Davis Road and Baker Road will be short in duration.

These improvements by the MOTI to the highway corridor implement recommendations contained within its 2019 highway traffic safety study, which examined all seven of the highway intersections in Ladysmith.

Ladysmith Council would like to thank the residents who advocated for changes along the highway corridor, and in particular at South Davis Road, which resulted in the completion of this study.  

North Davis Road intersection

In conjunction with these changes, the Province also plans to increase the traffic safety and efficiency at North Davis Road in Spring 2022 by completing the following:

• * Optimizing the signal timing at the North Davis Road and Highway 1 signal to increase green time for the left-turn movement.
• * Relocating the marked pedestrian crosswalk from the North side of the intersection to the South side of the intersection.

The Town will provide you with more details and timelines on these projects as they become available.

Click here to read the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure's news release. 

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