On September 2, 2025, a comprehensive review of Aragon’s Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) was sent to Saanich Mayor, Council, and various staff, as well as CBACA members.  This review suggests a number of serious deficiencies and safety issues. The author of this report, an expert in data analysis, lists numerous deficiencies in the TIA and provides a summary of them on page 2 of his report. 

Some Highlights of this report – 

Traffic concerns: Approval should be conditional on replacing the Highway 17-Sayward Rd intersection (costing over $50M), which would amount to a significant public subsidy for the developer.

Better use of funds: Investing directly in affordable housing, where it is deemed more appropriate for this kind of density would be a more efficient use of public money than costly highway upgrades.

Safety issues: Many of the trees lining Cordova Bay Road in the current landscape plan obstruct views at the entrances to the development and would need to be removed, which would significantly alter the street view and may not be in keeping with its suburban and rural surroundings. 

Loss of trust: Numerous deficiencies in the TIA and other documents undermine confidence in the professionals involved, leading to strong opposition to the project.

As a result, we proposed the following 4 questions to Saanich: 

1) Do Saanich Planners and Engineers agree with the author that the TIA study finds that, from a traffic perspective, a grade-separated interchange at Highway 17 and Sayward Road is necessary to make this development viable?

2) The rationale letter from Aragon states that the Aragon design team has been working collaboratively with the District of Saanich Planners and Engineers to bring forward the design concept for this development proposal. Given the close working relationship between Saanich staff and Aragon, please explain who will be involved in independently reviewing this development proposal?

3) Should an independent review concur that these are serious deficiencies and possibly identify additional areas of concern, will Saanich have confidence in the Aragon team to proceed with this development proposal? and

4) We look forward to learning how Saanich plans to undertake an independent review of the development proposal documents and whether Council and staff concur that the identified deficiencies in the report are of serious concern?

Please see all the details of this report in the link below :

IT IS VERY GOOD, PLEASE READ!!!

A Citizen’s review of the Aragon Traffic Impact Assessment Report

We will keep you all informed on any significant news. 

Also, don’t forget to attend the next Town Hall at Saanich in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, September 9th at 6pm.  This is your opportunity to meet with Saanich Council members and staff and talk to them about your concerns regarding the Aragon Development or other matters.

To register to speak, please email council@saanich.ca or call 250-475-5501. There will also be an opportunity to register at the Town Hall meeting.

Have any comments? We would love to hear from you. You can reach us at: cordovabayvoices@gmail.com

Thank you Cordova Bay!

Dan Horth

(on behalf of the Cordova Bay Petition Group)

‘Its not up to each of us to do everything…it’s up to all of us to do something’