WATCH: The City of Langford opened the final stretch of the Bear Mountain extension connecting the Bear Mountain village to Highway 1, cutting down residents commute and opening the doors for millions in future developments. Luisa Alvarez reports.
A continuation of Bear Mountain Parkway and coined the Olympic corridor. The final 3.5-kilometre stretch of a project 15 years in the making is finally complete.
Langford Mayor Stew Young says, including the Millstream Interchange and Bear Mountain Parkway it’s the city’s biggest infrastructure project and he’s excited it’s finally done.
“This is the single biggest infrastructure project in Langford’s history total probably over 50 million dollars,” said Young.
The 3.5 km stretch of road that’s filled with scenic views creates a direct passage onto Highway 1 from Leigh Road and into the community of Langford, linking the downtown core.
“This is pretty good for safety for our ambulance and fire service when Millstream gets shut down this is now another access in,” said Young.
According to Bear Mountain resort owner Dan Mathews with the new transportation corridor residents of bear mountains working in Victoria should have a much shorter commute.
“This will be a great feeder onto the Island Highway that will then also benefit from the infrastructure work being done at Quadra and Mckenzie, so I expect the travel time from Bear Mountain to downtown to be cut in half,” said Mathews.
According to Young, the project was funded by the business community and private developers.
“Langford facilitated it we obviously worked with them, what they do is they are paying for this road and the interchange as development occurs,” said Young.
It’s a clear message that Langford is open for business.
“It was a really more of a symbol of the ability for private enterprises to work together and then work very closely with our municipality and the vision they have for Langford,” said Mathews.
Young says pairing up with private investors to pay for critical infrastructure opens doors for future developments and millions in economic growth for the city.
“This will probably build out close to a billion dollars with the number of homes at Bear Mountain now and the potential for jobs over the next 20 years,” said Young.
Luisa Alvarez
