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Saanich plans to add new cycling lanes and sidewalks

Saanich has plans to add 150 kilometres of trails, bike lanes and sidewalks by 2036.
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Uptown general manager Roberta Ferguson stands at the construction site of the new Blanshard Street crosswalk between Uptown and Saanich Plaza. Saanich wants to add 150 kilometres of trails, bike lanes and sidewalks by 2036. Travis Paterson/News Staff

Saanich has plans to add 150 kilometres of trails, bike lanes and sidewalks by 2036.

The promise appears in the district’s annual report now available for review until June 19. This addition would even the ratio between roads, compared with trails, bike lanes and sidewalks, which currently favours roads 1.34 to 1.

While the report does not say how much it would cost, it suggests that plenty of work remains ahead. Saanich added 3.9 kilometres of new bike lanes in 2016, below its stated goal of at least four kilometres, which is also the goal for 2017.

In 2014, Saanich added 6.9 kilometres of new bike lanes and 7.3 kilometres in 2015.

Harley Machielse, Saanich’s director of engineering, said the district currently has 142 km of cycling facilities, adding approximately five kilometres per year.

“We would need to build approximately eight km per year to meet the goal (of an additional 150 kilometres),” he said. “The cost and likelihood are difficult to comment on because each year can be unique and cycling facilities have a range in costs.”

While Saanich uses several metrics to track progress, filling a short but difficult gap in the existing cycling network for all ages and abilities can be of more “significant value” than completing a long stretch of painted bike lanes, he said.

“The painted bike lanes for instance could be completed at a lower cost and provide more km than the high quality short missing gap but may provide less of an impact on improving overall ridership,” he said.

Looking at sidewalks, Saanich met its stated goal of adding at least three kilometres of new sidewalks to the existing inventory, according to the report. In 2014, Saanich added 5.2 kilometres and 5.7 kilometres in 2015.

“By developing an Active Transportation Plan and promoting walking and cycling, the District can work to reduce automobile dependence and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase physical activity and improve public health outcomes, increase social connections, and reduce infrastructure demands,” the district said in a release.

These figures appear against the backdrop of Moving Saanich Forward, a consultation process into Saanich’s future transportation needs. Saanich is currently drafting a Pedestrian and Bicycle Network Plan as well as recommendations for the Active Transportation Plan designed to guide active transportation for the next 25 years.

Active Transportation includes any form of human powered transportation. Walking and cycling are the most popular and well known forms of active transportation. The definition may also include skateboarding, wheeling, pushing a stroller, in-line skating and using mobility aids.

To this end, Saanich is looking into ways to incorporate motorized scooters into its planning process. In doing so, it has reached out to the Garth Homer Society and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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