Sooke council is continuing its journey to reduce congestion in the region as the district applies for funding on several ongoing projects.
The district's decision to support the applications came following a presentation from staff detailing the multiple projects they were attempting to secure funding for. The four projects were intended to fall within the district's transportation master plan.
The four projects each focus on improving active transportation in the district, a key aspect of the district's master plan to reduce congestion and improve pedestrian safety.
“All four of these Active Transportation projects demonstrate the benefits of continued investment in infrastructure to support multi-modal active transportation,” according to the staff report to council.
Included in the report ranked in order of priority were the Throup Road and Phillips Road Connector Active Transportation Project, the Little River Active Transportation – Sunriver Access Project, the Otter Point Road Active Transportation Continuation Project and the Highway 14 Active Transportation Corridor Continuation Project.
While it's unlikely that all four funding applications will be accepted, the total amount of funding the district will apply for sits at just over $25 million, with requests of $16,901,991 for the Throup Connector, $2,763,411 for Little River, $884,930 for Otter Point Road and $5,801,769 for Highway 14.
While the grant applications have the potential to significantly lower costs on the upcoming projects, there would still be a significant cost to the district of just over $40 million combined for all four projects to be completed.
While staff emphasized they planned to reduce the cost to property owners in the district as much as possible through a combination of reserve funds, developer cost charges and additional grants, there would still be a cost to Sooke taxpayers.
“Of note, there will be insufficient DCCs and reserve funds to finance the district portion of these projects and additional funding through long-term borrowing and/or significant annual property tax increases will be required to complete these projects,” staff stated.
