–Sooke PocketNews

At a recent pre-budget Council meeting at the District of Sooke (see page 70 of this January 22 2018 Committee of the Whole report), staff laid out a five-year plan for address the steady erosion of many roads in Sooke. The first three years were laid out in greater detail.

The five-year plan begins in 2018, with a budget of $700,000 ($150,000 from Casino funds, $500,000 from Gas Tax, and $50,000 from the Capital Asset Replacement budget). In this year, the District will address the sections of the following roads:

• French Road North: Galena Road to Otter Point Road;
• Helgesen Road: Otter Point Road to Woodgrove Place;
• Kaumareen Place: Eakin Road to end;
• Rojean Drive: Kaumareen Place to Christan Drive;
• Christan Drive: Eakin Road to Rojean Drive;
• Cedar Ridge Drive: end to Helgesen Road;
• Eakin Road: Otter Point Road to Cedar Ridge Drive;
• Belvista Place: Sooke Road to end.

Charters Road will also be looked at, in a separate project. In 2018, Sooke is planning to spend $100,000 on Charters Road Design. “An engineering consultant will be required to determine the best option for reinforcing/reconstructing the embankment at the Throup Stream crossing of Charters Road. An engineered design will be completed and used to apply for grants, so that the work can be tendered and constructed in 2019.” A main focus is pedestrian safety as this road connects subdivisions to schools. It will also focus on the ecological health and function of the watersheds, riparian areas and watercourses in that area.

Another $50,000 will go towards Beaton Road. “The purpose of this project is to produce a design for a curbed sidewalk on Beaton Road between French Road North and Otter Point Road. Completing the sidewalk design in 2018 will make the
work available to be tendered in the same package as the second year of the 5-Year Road Improvement Program, which involves rehabilitation along the same section of Beaton Road.” This project will provide a pedestrian connection between the Broom Hill neighborhood and Town Center.

In the second year (2019), the District will 2019 focus on roads in the Broom Hill neighborhood including

• Beaton Road
• The north end of Pyrite Drive
• Firwood Place
• Winfield Drive, and
• A segment of Grant Road between Winfield and Maple Avenue South.

The third year continues work in in the Broom Hill neighborhood on the roads south of Beaton Road, including

• Southern Pyrite Drive,
• Sections of Talc Place,
• Sections of Opal Place, and
• Sections of Grant Road.

Other minor projects include looking at the design of a sidewalk between Otter Point to Hope Centre, the design of Gatewood Road between Grant and Eustace, and addressing sightlines on Phillips Road.

It is expected that “repairs will enhance the safety of travel on the roads, and correlative sidewalk enhancements will improve pedestrian accessibility.”

One of the cost drivers for this maintenance identified in the report is that the historically low taxes in Sooke have meant that assets (ie, roads) have not been properly maintained, leaving the District to play catch-up.

The District has 67km of local roads and 22km of collector roads to maintain. Roads and sidewalks in Sooke are considered an asset of $52,960,121.