Saanich opened a new two-way cycle track on Borden Street Wednesday, closing a gap in the Lochside trail and making cycling safer through the McKenzie Avenue intersection.
The $550,000 project provides a separated three- to four-metre wide protected track on Borden Street from McKenzie to Cedar Hill Cross Road and the Lochside Regional Trail connection.
“Awesome!” cried Valerie Calderwood has she sailed past on her bicycle at the McKenzie intersection.
Southbound motor vehicles on Borden will no longer be able to turn right onto McKenzie on red lights. And it should be hard to miss the emerald green paint that identifies bicycle crossing areas and what the district calls “potential conflict zones.”
“The cars will get used to it,” predicted cyclist Sam Macey, on his commute home to Esquimalt. “As a cyclist, it’s safer for me.”
The two-way cycle track physically separates bikes from vehicles using raised concrete medians, concrete curbs and landscaped areas. Northbound and southbound cyclists will have their own traffic signals.
Drivers observed by the Times Colonist seemed unperturbed by the many changes to the intersection — except for one who ignored three signs warning against right turns on red and sped through.
Other drivers seemed fine with the changes. “It’s so busy with the bikes now, I would rather wait,” said Bev Lenihan, behind the wheel of a black Honda.
No problem, added a mom named Vim as she waited. “I’ve got kids who bike to school.”
The project, helped along with $140,000 from the province, creates a cycling network “suitable for users of all ages and all abilities,” engineering director Harley Machielse said in a statement.
The project addressed what Edward Pullman, president of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, called “the most pressing gap” in the Lochside trail. The 29-kilometre multi-use trail intersects with the Galloping Goose Regional Trail near Uptown and extends to the Saanich Peninsula.
“We’re very happy to see Saanich implement it,” he said.
While the project was “certainly a long time coming,” Pullman said the district is doing “some excellent work” in cycling infrastructure.
“McKenzie Avenue now has almost continuous bike lanes from Borden Street to UVic,” he said.
Saanich staff were at the Borden and McKenzie intersection Wednesday telling cyclists and pedestrians about the new traffic patterns and are expected to be there again today.
Among the features:
• At McKenzie and Borden, weight from cyclists will automatically activate the bicycle traffic signal.
• Bikes entering the two-way bikeway from the east should yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
• Traffic signals on McKenzie Avenue between Nelthorpe and Borden streets are synchronized for more efficient vehicle flow.
• Cyclists have the right of way when using the cycle track crossing at the Borden Street and Cedar Hill Cross Road intersection. The intersection is now a three-way stop.
• There are new sidewalks on Cedar Hill Cross and a relocated sidewalk on Borden.
> For more information on the lanes and how to navigate them, go to the District of Saanich website (link)
