Historic traffic crisis: The bridge accident on the Sooke River in 2006

This photo was taken by the Victoria Times Colonist on May 8, 2006 and documents an accident that brought traffic to and from Sooke to a standstill for more than seven hours.

The then editor of the Sooke News Mirror, Pirjo Raits, wrote:

“It is the only access road in and out of Sooke, and on Monday afternoon, May 8, the Sooke River Bridge was the scene of a three-vehicle accident. At approximately 2:00 p.m., the Sooke RCMP and Fire Department were called to a crash involving a tractor-trailer and two other vehicles. The tractor-trailer, traveling west, crossed the centre line when the driver apparently suffered a sneezing fit, although the RCMP could not confirm this.

“The semi-truck came to rest between the bridge’s support beams after colliding with two eastbound vehicles. The truck ripped out several of the bridge’s support beams and came to rest with its tires over the support beams…”

“… Traffic to and from Sooke was shut down for over seven hours while police, firefighters, the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Division and the Ministry of Transport investigated the accident scene. Attempts to remove the truck and trailer from the bridge were hampered when one of the cranes used to lift the vehicle gave way and another crane had to be brought in.”

Victoria columnist Jack Knox wrote in December 2006: “An accident that sends a semi-trailer dangling from the Sooke River Bridge causes a 10-kilometre-long traffic jam… Rapid development in the Western Communities is leading to the return of the Colwood Crawl, bigger and badder than ever. With thousands of homes on the drawing board, it’s only going to get worse.”

While we have many different opinions on local issues, we can agree on one thing: traffic congestion has gotten worse since 2006. The bridge is a major factor. The current two-lane Sooke River Bridge was built in 1967, following a bridge built in 1946 and a series of previous structures that began with a primitive crossing built by pioneer Michael Muir in 1872.

Elida Peers is the historian of the Sooke Regional Museum.