The Victoria
bike lanes have been a hot topic around town for quite some time. Most lean to
one side or the other. They view it as a very black and white situation with no
grey areas in between. The fact of the matter is there are many positive and
negatives to consider when forming an opinion about this controversial local infrastructure.
Costs, confusions with traffic changes, loss of parking spaces have all been
some points of stress.
The main problems that arose with the creation of the bike-lanes
was the horribly inaccurate cost estimate. The project was originally expected
to cost around $7.75 million in total. With the end goal being approximaley 32
km of completed and protected bike-lanes around Victoria, making it more
accessible to all cyclists. The current estimate for the completed project?
$14.5 million. That is almost $3 million per kilometer. This amount along with
the speed in which it all has been implemented took the majority by surprise
with not much time to get used to the idea.
City Councillor Chris
Coleman felt the City should have given people time to adjust to the lanes
that had already been created. “Sometimes we need to slow down and let the
public catch up and understand, and we need to be better at explaining,” he
said. “I don’t want to put off the whole notion of the full cycling network,
but we have to make sure the public is on board.”
Although, I see many possibilities and positives that come along
with a full connecting network of bike lanes for all ages and abilities. Bike
lanes could mean fewer accidents, less traffic, improved health and the
possibility of more retail sales for small local business owners. The Pandora
bike lane is already
seeing high usage, with 40, 000 bike trips in the first 30 days of
operation. We are still seeing this number grow. The lanes see roughly 1500
rides per day. This growth is bound to continue.
Other cities have seen much success with the growth of their
cycling community! Seville,
Spain connected a network of
protected bike lanes from 7.5 miles in 2006, taking it even further they continued
to connect 94 miles of bike lanes in 2013. They saw exponential growth of bike
trips, from 3 million in 2006, to more than 16 million in 2013. That is a 435%
increase! Along with the increase in bicyclists the city even saw a 61% drop in
the risk of being in a motor vehicle accident.
We have the luxury
of living in such a warm climate compared to the rest of our fellow Canadians,
along with a perfect sized downtown core for this sort of transportation to
become the ideal for the majority, over time. I’m not predicting everybody will
be riding their bicycles every hour of the day to every destination. I do think
we will continue to see the growth of greener and healthier lifestyle options. Which
is all for the better!
With better city planning and communication from city officials in
the future, the implementation of these infrastructures could actually be
welcomed with open arms from the public. No one enjoys change, especially when
it’s not a change brought on by oneself. We in live in a city that prides
itself on being aware of our ecological footprint. That means these changes are
sure to come. You can either embrace it or do something about it. I advise
everyone to take part in your community, go out and vote for city elections and
attend city meetings! Make your voices heard.
Nice piece!
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