Drivers in Colwood will need to find another way around starting Monday, as BC Hydro closes a stretch of Metchosin Road for five days of underground electrical work.
The closure runs from June 15 to 19, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, affecting through traffic on Metchosin Road from Kelly Road to Donovan Avenue. A signed detour will send vehicles along Pickford Road, and drivers should expect delays.
Emergency vehicles will be given immediate and priority access through the work zone at all times. Traffic control crews will be on site to keep things moving as smoothly as possible.
The job involves installing an underground duct bank, a kind of protective pathway for electrical cables. It is part of BC Hydro’s 10-year, $36-billion capital plan to upgrade and expand the electricity grid across the province. More than $3 billion of that work is earmarked for Vancouver Island projects in growing communities like Colwood, Langford, and Victoria.
Victoria-based Chew Contracting is handling the construction, with Site Superintendent Bruno Faria overseeing the job. The company has been doing excavation and civil work on Vancouver Island since 1955.
Colwood is in the middle of a growth spurt. The city projects its population will climb 13 percent by the end of this year and 30 percent by 2038. Right now, 586 homes are under construction in neighbourhoods like Colwood Corners, Royal Bay, and The Beachlands. That extra demand for housing means more demand for electricity, roads, sewers, and other basics, something Mayor Doug Kobayashi has pointed to in recent infrastructure discussions.
BC Hydro is also building a new substation in Langford that will be able to power 40,000 to 70,000 additional homes when it goes into service by 2030. For now, though, the focus is on this week’s closure and the detour that comes with it.
