Malahat Drive southwards: where are the viewpoints ?

One of the famous North American scenic routes, the Malahat Drive, is no longer the engineering triumph that it once was, with unsurpassed views of Mount Baker and the US Gulf Islands (the latter formerly ours, but handed over by a UK high court judge in 1905). They are viewable at a couple of viewpoint stops on the way north, but drivers going south don't get the opportunity to enjoy a single view. They are also deprived of any facilities at all on the drive south, including washrooms, cafeterias, interpretative material, and telescopes. That's nearly 30 kilometres of driving without the opportunity to stop, let alone relieve oneself or survey the unsurpassed scenery. How did the idiots in the B.C. Tourism department manage to organise such a torture trip?

The wide views going south, suggested in this archive photo, have been destroyed and no viewpoints, car parks or other facilities have ever been installed. The Malahat Drive south is a disgrace to the Province. The state of Washington should sign a contract to run it.

The trip south on the Malahat Drive should be formally announced by an official sign saying that there will be no stops for views or conveniences for nearly 30 kilometres. The fabulous views that the route once commanded have been thoroughly overgrown, and the drive south is now a featureless ordeal. If you manage to catch a fleeting glimpse of Mount Baker on the way, you will be risking your life because there is nowhere to stop.

They just spent a lot of money modifying access to the stopping point nearest the north end of the Malahat, but not one penny has been spent on improving the southward route, which cannot access any of the northerly car parks against the oncoming traffic. Isn't it about time that the B.C. government built a significant viewpoint going south so that the claims about the Malahat still have some validity and are not just a distant memory recalled by a photograph taken in 1914?