As a commuter cyclist, I ride approximately 200 kilometres per week on Greater Victoria roads and lanes. I applaud the councils of Victoria and Saanich for their desire to put in bike lanes in our cities. The best bike lane that treats bikes more like cars is the bike lane on Cook Street between Maplewood and Quadra, and it should be a model for bike lanes elsewhere in the Capital Regional District as they allow for ambulances, handyDART buses and others who need a few minutes to care for residents' needs.
I have no idea why the councils of Saanich and Victoria want to put bike lanes with their massive concrete blocks only on busy streets rather than quiet residential streets like Haultain, Kings Road to the Galloping Goose trail out to Sooke. As a cyclist, I really don’t want to be breathing the intimate fumes of carbon monoxide and other combustion gases emanating from petroleum-powered vehicles, and as such, I prefer to ride on residential streets and lanes.
I have tried out these new bike lanes like the one on Shelbourne – both the Victoria portion between Bay and North Dairy and the Saanich portion that stops at Shelbourne and Pear streets. The asphalt patches on the car lanes and bike lanes are both bumpy, and on the Saanich portion, the bike lane has major bumps at every side street. The recently installed bike lane on Gorge Road East is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I am disappointed that whoever designed these bike lanes did not consult with the designers of the bike lane along Cook Street.
Carly Derling
Saanich
