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Some observations on Larchwood Ave. bike lanes in Saanich, open since Nov., now largely complete. Before/After pics
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New (mostly) protected bike lanes comprise ~1 km stretch between McKenzie & Feltham Rds @Saanich & provide excellent 2-wheel links to UVic, Gordon Head Community Ctr, Lambrick Park & nearby residential areas. If you don’t know it… it’s very suburban, all SFH 1/
Unlike many bike lane projects, these did not follow from underground utility upgrades; here bike infrastructure here was built on its own merits - as a functional and safer connection for local residents 2/
With strong connections to recently completed bike lanes on McKenzie & Feltham – and links mentioned in 1/ Larchwood builds up a decent on-road bike network , something quite lacking in Saanich 3/
Note how wide Larchwood was/is: btwn 11 & 12.5M. No new curbs were built, yet enuf space for new bike lanes, generous concrete/planted islands & striped voids. And car lanes still work! Resulting design reduces speeding – more so than the new posted limit of 40km. 4/
Lesson: some Saanich residential streets are simply too wide to be safe, and could accommodate other modes fairly easily. 5/
Design incl. parking protected lanes (between driveways). On-street parking pushed out, effectively narrowing overall space & slowing down (most) drivers. There’s room for improvement: e.g. some additional bollards. On west side, look where some folks now walk....6/
And intersection crossing at Feltham remains awkward when riding south from Lambrick Park. Ped/bike crossing at light one-side only, forcing riders to cross two lanes to enter southbound bike lane. 7/
Overall, design has many elements of Fort and Pandora St design in DT Victoria. And elsewhere. Though Victoria lanes are bi-directional on one-way street; Larchwood lanes follow direction of car travel. Fort and Pandora lanes slightly longer than Larchwood, about 1.2km. 8/
here’s the biggest contrast: Victoria’s DT lanes created months of hand-wringing and headlines; sometimes vicious bike-lash against Mayor Helps & City Hall. In Saanich, crickets. Sure, downtown routes more visible and well-travelled; Larchwood is a minor street compared. 9/
But Larchwood connects to McKenzie, a major arterial leading to UVic, where a lane was removed several years back for bike lanes. Again, barely a complaint, no negative press. 10/
So do all the anti-bike voices just have it in for Lisa and this Victoria council? (lately in the noise about VancouverSt). Or is bike infrastructure now winning support, its obvious safety and transport benefits clearer to more people, even drivers? Even in suburban Saanich? 11/
/fin
