In the wake of a three-hour long closure of a stretch of the Malahat Monday morning -- this time due to falling rocks -- discussion is escalating on options to the problem-plagued corridor.
Sonia Furstenau, the Green MLA for Cowichan Valley, thinks the stalling on the issue is all about politics:
"Where do you win or not win elections? Under 'first past the post' - it's in the swing ridings. That's why you see these kinds of decisions being made. We need evidence-based decision making that recognizes all the regions -- and this is a long overlooked one."
Furstenau is at the Union for BC Municipalities in Whistler this week, where she's meeting with counterparts, including the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
"I will certainly be raising this with Claire Trevena," said Furstenau. "I really want to see an indication of urgency from them. They took the tolls off the bridges in Surrey, they put four-billion dollars of debt on the books. How much does that undermine the capacity to bring transportation solutions to the rest of the province where they're needed so desperately?"
The MLA is also concerned the recent upgrades on the verge of completion on the Malahat, will only encourage drivers to speed up.
Furstenau she's looking down the road at the' worst case scenerio'. If this region suffered a serious earthquake, closing the Malahat indefinitely, Greater Victoria would quickly be in a crisis mode.