New bus-on-shoulder lanes opened on May 19, 2026, at the Colquitz River Bridges in Saanich, providing commuters in View Royal and the surrounding Westshore with a faster route to downtown Victoria. The project allows buses to bypass traffic at a major pinch point on Highway 1, improving reliability for thousands of daily riders.
More than 300 buses cross the bridges daily between Tillicum Road and the McKenzie Interchange. The new infrastructure includes widened and seismically upgraded bridges with a dedicated bus-on-shoulder lane in both directions.
According to the Province of British Columbia, these lanes are expected to reduce transit travel times by up to 20 per cent. This improvement supports the South Island Transportation Strategy, which aims to increase reliability for transit users across the region.
The $33.5 million project was funded by the province and the federal government through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. These lanes connect existing transit infrastructure on Douglas Street to the McKenzie Interchange and will eventually link to a larger project expected to finish in late fall 2027.
This development comes as the Westshore continues to see significant population growth, increasing the demand for reliable transit. Many residents rely on the Blink RapidBus service, which has been the top performer in the Victoria Regional Transit System since its launch in 2023.
