On the morning of July 8th, 2009, Esquimalt officially marked the beginning of construction for Phase 1 of the Craigflower Road Corridor Upgrading Project. Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins was joined for the Sod Turning Ceremony by the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of State for Sport, and Dave Byng, Chief Operating Officer from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The Sod Turning Ceremony took place in front of the Gorge Vale Golf Club, located at the soon to be improved Craigflower-Tillicum intersection.
“The upgrading and improvement of Craigflower Road has been a vision of Esquimalt’s Council for many years. We are excited about the opportunity this road project presents for making Esquimalt a sustainable community,” said Mayor Desjardins. “The building of continuous sidewalks and bicycles lanes along Craigflower Road will encourage walking and cycling.”
Mayor Desjardins expressed gratitude to the Government of Canada and Province of British Columbia for granting the Township of Esquimalt with $1,963,490 in Municipal Rural Infrastructure Funding for Phase 1 of the project. The estimated cost of Phase 1 is $3 million, with federal, provincial and municipal governments each paying a third.
The upgrading project will include bicycle lanes in each direction, continuous sidewalks on both sides, a centre lane for left turns, median islands for traffic calming, new traffic lights, and improvements to the Tillicum-Craigflower intersection.
Phase 1 of the project includes 1.7 km of Craigflower Road stretching from Dominion Road to Garthland Road, with construction being completed this fall. Phase 2 includes the final 1 km of Craigflower Road between Garthland Road and Admirals Road. Construction of Phase 2 will begin next spring and is scheduled to be completed by fall 2010.
For more information please contact:
Marlene Lagoa, Manager of Communications and Sustainability
Tel: 250-414-7122
Pictured above: Mayor
Desjardins standing by the soon to be improved Craigflower-Tillicum intersection.
Pictured above (from left to right): Dave Byng from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; Mayor Barb Desjardins and Minister Gary Lunn turning the sod on Craigflower Road.