If you’re afraid to ride your bike downtown, Victoria wants to hear from you.
The city has invited people to an on-street open house near city hall Tuesday to gather their thoughts on proposed protected bike lanes on Pandora Avenue and Johnson Street.
But Mayor Lisa Helps says it’s certainly not just seasoned cyclists like herself they want to hear from. In fact, the opposite may be true.
“I would say that the target of this is people who don’t bike,” Helps said of the open house.
“That’s who we’re building these facilities for. We’re not building these facilities for people who bike. We’re already on our bikes. We don’t need anything, although it would be nice to feel a bit safer. But the thrust of this activity is to say: ‘What would it take to get you on your bike? … Come and help us decide and design what it would take to get you on your bike.’ ”
Protected bike lanes, which have yet to be tried in Victoria, separate cyclists from vehicle lanes with barriers such as landscape planters or curbs. The city event from noon to 7 p.m. will include a temporary or “pop-up” protected bike lane on Pandora.
Victoria council has agreed to put $7.75 million toward bike lanes over the next five years. Options under consideration include a two-way protected lane on Pandora, combined with a standard painted lane on Johnson Street, or one-way protected lanes on each of Pandora and Johnson.
Helps, who has been cycling Pandora to downtown since she was 14, says she’s comfortable on the route, but she knows that many aren’t.
“People like me are very comfortable but the people we want to get out to the pop-up between 12 and 7 p.m. on the 26th are people who don’t feel comfortable on the road,” she said.
Those people probably don’t care as much whether the bike lane is a two-lane route on Pandora or one lane on each of Pandora and Johnson, but they will be able to identify what kind of separation from traffic will make them feel safe, she said.
The separating barrier could be as simple as a row of parked cars or a hay-bale-size block of concrete with a large flower pot on top, she said.
“That’s what we want from the public — [their thoughts on] what kind of separation creates safety and also creates beauty.”
Pandora has been eyed for the route not only because it is a major east-west connector but because it connects to the new Johnson Street Bridge, the Galloping Goose and E&N Rail Trail beyond.
“It’s the missing link. To start with the missing link for our all-ages-and-abilities network makes sense,” she said.
“It will feel bold. It will feel new, but it will only work if we actually strive for completeness and connectivity. Otherwise it is a failure.”
