What the New OCP Means for Roads, Traffic, and Safety
On Monday, December 8, 2025, Sooke Council voted to adopt the Official Community Plan (OCP).

The decision was closely split.

Councillors who voted AGAINST the OCP
✅ Herb Haldane
✅ Kevin Pearson
✅ Megan McGrath

Councillors who voted FOR the OCP
✅ Tony St. Pierre
✅ Al Beddows
✅ Jeff Bateman

With Council tied 3 to 3, the OCP was adopted using Mayor Maja Tait’s deciding vote.

This update is shared to clarify why continued public attention to traffic and road safety remains important.

 
🚗 What the OCP Says About Traffic
The newly adopted OCP does recognize traffic and transportation as important planning issues. It references:
• the Transportation Master Plan
• future corridor connections such as Throup Road
• long term transportation planning concepts

This confirms that traffic has not been ignored in principle.

 
⚠️ What the OCP Does Not Do
Planning language is not the same as delivery.

The OCP does not commit to:
• funded road upgrades
• clear construction timelines
• sequencing that ties growth to road capacity
• specific commitments for Highway 14 improvements

Many traffic solutions remain subject to future funding, staffing capacity, provincial coordination, and Council prioritization.

A pathway exists.
A guarantee does not.

 
🛣️ Interior Roads and Highway 14
Sooke is responsible for local interior roads.
Highway 14 is managed by the Province.

In real life, they are fully connected.

When Highway 14 is congested or closed:
• neighbourhood streets are impacted
• emergency access is delayed
• residents are forced onto unsafe detours

When local roads are approved without capacity upgrades:
• Highway 14 absorbs the pressure

The OCP acknowledges this relationship but does not clearly prioritize how interior roads and Highway 14 upgrades will be integrated, funded, or delivered together.

 
🧱 A Quick Clarification on Taxes and Roadwork
Some residents have raised a concern that asking for affordability could be used to justify delaying road fixes.

✅ Roads and traffic safety are essential services
✅ Residents are not asking for roadwork to stop
✅ Residents are asking that core infrastructure comes first

This petition is about getting the order right, not doing nothing.

Growth and regulation without road capacity creates real, daily costs for residents.

 
🚦 What Residents Are Actually Asking For

✅ Clear priorities for road safety and emergency access
✅ Realistic timelines for Highway 14 and interior road improvements
✅ Better coordination between Sooke and the Province
✅ Transparency about what is funded now and what is not
✅ Infrastructure to keep pace with growth, not fall behind it

Residents understand that traffic solutions take time.

What they are asking for is confidence that plans on paper will lead to real improvements on the road, not more waiting.

 
Thank you to everyone who continues to read, share, and stay engaged.
Clear priorities and honest timelines are how communities move forward safely.