2023 Municipal Highlights - ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

The Engineering Department is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and capital project delivery for View Royal’s Engineering and Parks assets.

In Engineering, this includes the Town’s transportation systems (roadways, bridges, sidewalks, signage, boulevards, bus shelters, street lighting, traffic signals and storm drains), and environmental systems (garbage, food and yard waste contracting, sanitary sewer conveyance).

In Parks, this includes the maintenance and development of over 70 parks in View Royal that includes manicured and natural green spaces, trails and shoreline accesses, off leash dog areas and pathways, and playgrounds and sports fields. Parks also maintains the grounds at Town Hall and oversees building and fleet maintenance.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Staff completed the Town’s first Active Transportation Network Plan (ATNP). The ATNP is the Town’s first comprehensive document that provides a 10-year roadmap outlining the short-term infrastructure improvements, policies, and programs needed to prioritize active transportation in View Royal. The ATNP was received for information by Council in May 2023.
• Pedestrian lighting improvements were made at the Chilco Road / Lund Road intersection.
• Upgrades to the traffic signal cabinets and controllers at Island Highway and Hart Road were completed, improving reliability and future-proofing the signal.
• Under BC Transit’s “Transit Shelter Program,” the Town completed improvements to three bus stops and installed a new bus shelter at the Thetis Lake.
• Ten street lights were upgraded along Helmcken Road as part of the LED lighting upgrade program.
• The Six Mile Road Roundabout construction project started in the Fall with expected completion in late spring /early summer of 2024.
• The Packers Pumpstation construction project started with an expected completion in early 2024. Upgrades to the Helmcken Bay Pump Station were also completed. Special thanks to View Royal Parks staff for reinstalling the irrigation, planting cedar trees, and placing the sod.
• Collaboration with BC Transit and the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure continued discussing numerous rapid transit initiatives including the Island Highway Transit Priority Lane Project (IHTP) and the Highway 1 Bus on Shoulders Project. Continued updates to Council will be required as these projects will provide improvements to transit scheduling and infrastructure. The IHTP project is expected to commence in 2024, which will see priority bus lanes, new sidewalks, improved bus shelters, bike lanes and traffic signals.
• The Town’s yard and garden waste agreement with the Township of Esquimalt was renewed.
• The first phase of riparian improvements to View Royal Park was completed. Improvements included invasive species removal, stormwater management improvements and the replanting of native species. The Town partnered with Greater Victoria Green Teams as part of the TD Tree Days grant to fund the replanting of native species.
• Fencing improvements were made in View Royal Park’s off leash dog area to mitigate pet access to the riparian area. Completion is anticipated in early 2024. Fencing improvements were also completed at Helmcken Centennial Park in Diamond #4.
• The Park Department’s 2007 1-ton pickup was replaced with a new 2024 1-ton pickup in accordance with the Town’s fleet replacement plan. While there are currently no suitable EV equivalents for this size of truck, fuel efficiency improvements are expected to reduce costs. Staff are currently eyeing an EV truck as part of 2024’s truck replacement.
• The five condensing units at Town Hall were replaced as two units recently failed and the ultimate system was not expected to last until its scheduled replacement in 2024. All five units were replaced with air source heat pumps, as recommended in the Town Hall Energy Report. This will result in significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to much less reliance on the natural gas-powered furnaces.
• The community gardens at View Royal Park prepared for its tenth year of operation. All 49 plots were reserved with returning and/or new gardeners as well as a waitlist for future participants.
• The Resident Tree Planning Program was successfully rolled out to encourage residents to contribute to improving View Royal’s urban canopy. The program provided 29 trees to 13 View Royal households and stratas for planting on their private property.
• Environmental stewardship continues to be prevalent across View Royal parks through its Habitat Restoration volunteer program and continued partnership with Greater Victoria Green Teams. In addition to the TD Tree Days work in View Royal Park, the school and community group events contributed to a total of 831 volunteer hours that resulted in a total park land revitalization of 2806 m². Invasive species were also removed from two road end areas (Stillwater Road, Thomas Park Drive).