Bay Street Bridge lane closure clogs traffic from Esquimalt to Victoria

A lane closure on one of few connectors between Esquimalt and Victoria, B.C. is causing major traffic delays.

The eastbound lane of the Bay Street Bridge closed Tuesday for remediation work, pushing drivers headed downtown to the Johnson Street Bridge.

As vehicles squeezed through the single eastbound lane on the Johnson Street Bridge during Tuesday’s evening commute, traffic on Esquimalt Road backed up as far as Lampson Street.

It took roughly 25 minutes to drive a 2.5-kilometre stretch of road that can normally be covered in five minutes.

Ahead of the Bay Street Bridge lane closure, the City of Victoria said it adjusted the timing of a few traffic lights to ease congestion.

“Within the traffic system, if we do too much work pre-emptively we can create problems that we weren’t anticipating,” said Ross Kenny, assistant director for Victoria’s transportation department.

Kenny said the transportation team monitored Tuesday’s commutes and made additional changes to traffic signals, so busy roads get more time on green.

“Why we’re doing this now is that we were waiting to see what the traffic was doing and where people were showing up,” he said.

Delays on Wednesday’s drive home were slightly improved.

“We’re constantly going to be monitoring, making changes, and then making further changes as required,” Kenny said.

The eastbound lane of the Bay Street Bridge will be closed for four months. During that time, Kenny is advising drivers to plan for delays and to carpool.

He’s encouraging West Shore commuters to stay on Highway 1, instead of cutting through Esquimalt to get to downtown Victoria—a route that will be blocked come Monday.

The Town of View Royal said part of the Island Highway is closing for hydro work from Feb. 23 through March 6. The eastbound lane will be closed between Stewart Avenue and Plowright Drive.