How many times have you turned off Highway 17 at Martindale Road on the way to a pumpkin patch? That turn is gone. In August 2026 the Province declared the Keating Cross Road Overpass complete, and that finished a change Central Saanich has been living with in stages since construction began in June 2023.
This October is the first harvest season with the project fully done. The farms east of the highway are where they have always been. You just reach them a different way now. The fields along Island View Road and down through the Martindale Valley are now reached from the local road network, and the season's few fixed dates fall on back-to-back Saturdays this month. Plan around both and October gets a lot easier.
What the overpass closed, and what it left open
The headline feature is the flyover. Northbound drivers no longer turn left across Highway 17 to reach Keating Cross Road. The left-turn lane closed permanently when the flyover opened to northbound traffic on July 28, 2025. The southbound on-ramp from Keating Cross Road opened on January 24, 2026.
Less attention went to the smaller connections the project removed. The Province's completion release lists three places where direct highway access is now closed:
- East Saanich Road
- Martindale Road
- Danica Place
Martindale is the one that matters in harvest season. When the Province announced that closure back in 2023, it said the closure would be permanent and named Gliddon Road as the way into Martindale Road. Neither the Province nor the District has published turn-by-turn directions from the Island View Road interchange to the farm roads, so the practical rule is simple. Leave the highway at Island View or Keating and do the rest on local roads.
The roadwork itself is finished. CHEK reported on August 12, 2026 that the construction signs and equipment had been cleared. That means no flaggers on harvest weekends this year, which the last few Octobers could not say.
The highway is still busy. About 52,000 vehicles a day use this section of Highway 17, with peaks above 4,000 an hour. Those figures explain why the direct turn-offs were closed. They also explain why a Saturday farm run now goes better if the highway is only the first leg.
Two fixed Saturdays, with the farm stands around them
Most of the October circuit runs on open hours, not set dates. Only two dates are firm, and they fall a week apart.
- Saturday, October 10. This is the last Peninsula Country Market of 2026. The 2026 season ran June 6 to October 10, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Saanich Fairgrounds in Saanichton. After that morning, the fairgrounds market is done until next year.
- Saturday, October 17. Patio Gardens in Saanichton hosts its Harvest Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with 20 to 25 local vendors selling handcrafted goods, seasonal décor, baking, preserves and specialty foods. Admission is by donation, and cash or non-perishable food goes to the local food bank.
Once the country market closes, the farms carry the rest of the month on their own daily hours, and they are generous ones.
Island View Road: the farm the trail runs past
Michell's Farm Market sits at 2451 Island View Road, right on the Lochside Trail. Since the overpass project changed every highway approach in the area, it helps that this farm can also be reached on foot or by bike.
Michell's has posted that its U-pick pumpkin patch opened Saturday, September 26, with patch hours of 9:30 to 5, and that the market is open daily from 9 to 5. Harvest Rd, the farm-to-table grill beside the market, is open 10 to 5 Thursday through Tuesday and closed Wednesdays. A Wednesday visit gets you pumpkins but no lunch.
The farm's history explains a lot about the fields around it. William Michell bought the original 100 acres in the 1860s with gold rush profits and farmed mostly potatoes. The family is now in its sixth generation, working 400-plus acres plus more than 100 leased acres and growing over 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables. That variety partly came from a setback. In the 1980s the federal government banned potato growing in Central Saanich after golden nematode was found, and the Michells moved into other crops. The farm notes that the quarantine signs at the edge of Central Saanich are still up today. That's the reason for the signs you pass on the way in.
Michell's also sells barley straw for garden mulch and fall displays, pickup in store only, and its pasture-raised beef can be seen grazing in the fields around Island View Road.
Central Saanich Road: the maze and the corn
A short drive inland, Silver Rill Corn at 7117 Central Saanich Road keeps its market open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week, holidays included. The corn maze is open daily from 9:30 to 5.
The farm's posted 2026 prices are $1.35 a cob, $16 a dozen and $58 for a four-dozen sack. A sack works out to about $14.50 a dozen, so it beats buying by the dozen if your holiday table is big enough. You can buy two sacks or fewer without ordering ahead. Three or more need an email first.
Sea Cider, the Saanichton ciderhouse, held its Apple Day on September 27 and has no on-site Thanksgiving or Halloween event on its public calendar. It is open daily, but its own site lists two different sets of hours, 11:30 to 5:30 in one place and noon to 5 in another, so confirm before you go.
The west side of the peninsula keeps its own calendar
Across the peninsula, Brentwood Bay runs on a separate schedule. The Butchart Gardens Autumn Display runs October 1 to 31. Greenhouse Tours start October 31 and continue to November 29, and Christmas programming, including the Lights Display and skating, runs December 1 to January 6.
The Mill Bay ferry runs nine 25-minute sailings each way. On Monday, October 5, the first Mill Bay departure was 8:05 a.m. and the last Brentwood Bay departure was 5:55 p.m. The route doesn't take reservations, and BC Ferries says schedules can change without notice, so check its current conditions page before you leave.
Brentwood Bay is also still working through the District's sewer replacement, which is scheduled to wrap up in late summer 2027. Centennial Park accessibility upgrades are scheduled for October through December 2026. Last year's Brentwood Bay restaurant opening, the Garden Fork at 6719 West Saanich Road, has been closed since a June 6 fire destroyed the building.
Why Island View Road matters for the next chapter
The overpass project made one more crossing problem harder to ignore. In February 2025, Peninsula News Review reported that Central Saanich was looking into a pedestrian and cycling overpass concept after a truck-cyclist incident at Highway 17 and Island View Road. The District saw a safer crossing as useful for agritourism in the Martindale Valley. The Province's project also widened Keating Cross Road and added a new sidewalk, though the sidewalk doesn't continue over the flyover itself.
The pieces are lining up. The farms already sit on the Lochside Trail and along quieter local roads, and the highway turn-offs that used to cut through to them are closed. A Saturday loop on October 10 can start with the country market's last morning at the Saanich Fairgrounds, take in Silver Rill's maze on Central Saanich Road, and end in the pumpkin field at 2451 Island View Road without touching a highway on-ramp after the first exit.
If you live near Island View, Martindale or Keating and wonder how this year's road changes affect what your home is worth, Kash Burley can walk you through it with local knowledge and a clear explanation. Get your free home valuation.
