Peddling residents hoping to see Cadboro Bay Road adopt bike lanes will have to wait a little longer for any official word.
Members of the committee of the whole decided to turn the proposition into a public consultation process on Monday, Aug. 12, and took no action on moving forward with the lanes at this time.
“We wanted to create a public process to invite input from a variety of groups as well as the public to understand what people would like to see in terms of bike infrastructure,” said Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen.
The lanes, which have come up in consultation as part of the Oak Bay High school redevelopment project, would span from Foul Bay Road to Cranmore Road along Cadboro Bay, and criss-cross the high school.
Last January, School District 61 hired Boulevard Transportation Group to conduct the study, which included a look at traffic impact, parking, demand management and construction management.
The study was forwarded to the active transportation advisory committee, parks and recreation staff and commission and the district’s Engineering Department to provide a comprehensive look at the options.
Those options included removing on-street parking to facilitate the lanes, which would accommodate one bike lane in each direction, or eliminating one of the two eastbound travel lanes. The first suggestion would eliminate 35 parking spaces and cost an estimated $5,000 in paving and signage. The second would reduce road capacity and would cost an estimated $7,000 for signs and paving, however, the plan proposed that a new turning bay would need to be created at Cranmore Road, which would cost an additional $23,000.
Council will be meeting with representatives from Oak Bay High in September, and will also be soliciting further input from the advisory group, and from Parks and Recreation before any decisions are made as to what the infrastructure would look like in and around the school.
“This is a great opportunity to put our new transportation policy into play,” said Jensen. “It’s something we passed about a year ago, where we recognized a hierarchy of ‘transportation importance,’ giving primacy to walking, and creating a walkable community.”
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