Greater Victoria cyclists took their bikes, helmets and passionate ideas to the streets of Oak Bay Monday (June 12) to demand the community “catch up” on its infrastructure.
The riders biked from the University of Victoria to the Oak Bay Municipal Hall to demand that council take “action now” on safer cycling routes, according to rally integrator Jane van Hoorn.
The protest, dubbed a Critical Mass Ride, is specifically protesting the bike lane on Henderson Road to be open 24 hours a day. In 2008, the council declared the lane on Henderson an official bike lane from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The remaining 12 hours of the day, along with weekends, are available for street parking.
ALSO READ: Bid to ban bike lane parking rolls over into Oak Bay’s priorities plan
“Oak Bay has to catch up. It’s ridiculous,” said Oak Bay resident Charlotte Masmamn. She is a mother of two, one of them being her daughter, Anna Devrise.
“Anna and her brother go to Oak Bay High and we want them to be safe when they’re biking to school and wherever they bike in Oak Bay,” said Masmamn.
Devrise also bikes on Henderson going to and from soccer practice.
“When she bikes on weeknights to practice at 5:30 p.m., the bike lane is open, but when soccer practice ends after 7 p.m. the bike lane is closed. Anything that happens on a weekend the bike lane can have parking in it at any given spot.” Masmamn and her family don’t have a car, so they’re reliant on the lanes.
“It’s really scary biking behind your kid and having them have to go in the traffic lane because there’s a car parked in a part-time lane,” said Masmamn.
“Oak Bay seems to be very car-privileged,” said Oak Bay resident Patricia McKenzie. She was confused by Oak Bay’s “lack of bike lanes” compared to the other communities in Greater Victoria.
McKenzie used to work at UVic and after recently retiring, she said, “If the bike lanes were safer in Oak Bay, I would have cycled to campus more often. I find it quite dangerous as I’m actually a relatively new cyclist.”
Just coming to meet the other bikers for the protest she said, “I almost got hit just now.”
The protest route the cyclists took included roads that are all part of Oak Bay’s active transportation strategy. The Oak Bay roads included Henderson, Lansdowne Road, Cadboro Bay Road, Musgrave Street, St. Ann Street, and Oak Bay Avenue.
“We gotta do something. This is a step back for our community and it just has to change,” said van Hoorn.
She already had been to six Oak Bay council meetings bringing up the issue.
“When the Henderson bike lane was voted against, I became very frustrated and reached out to someone else that I’ve lobbed with for the Henderson lane.”
Using the trails frequently as a northern Oak Bay resident, she said, “I’ve done all kinds of surveys including the act of transportation strategy, in the data gathering of that and nothing has changed so I’m trying a different strategy. I’m pretty sure tonight, council is going to find out how strong that lobby is. We’ve not talking about convenience, we’re talking about safety.”
Once the protesting cyclists made it to the municipal hall, van Hoorn and several community members spoke. The bikers wanted to grab the attention of the Oak Bay council member before their 6 p.m. meeting. Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch appeared in front of the crowd to answer questions and on Twitter after encouraged residents to reach him via email.
It was a pleasure. For the record, everyone, it’s easy to reach me. If anyone wishes to discuss active transportation or anything else community related, just email mayor@oakbay.ca
— Mayor Kevin Murdoch 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 (@MurdochOakBay) June 13, 2023
The council did not discuss the bike lanes this meeting, but will during the next one on July 10. Proceeding the July meeting, another protest bike rally will commence.
ALSO READ: LETTER: Scooters and pedestrians shouldn’t be in bike lanes