A serious crash on the new Pandora separated bike lane this week has a cyclist warning others to be wary and motorists to keep their eyes open.
The warning comes on the eve of a decision today on whether to build a similar two-way bike path on Fort Street.
Heading to work at Harbour Air on Monday at 11:55 a.m., 21-year-old Willam Hoover had just cycled through the Vancouver Street intersection on a green light when a van, attempting to pull into the McDonald’s parking lot, stopped across the Pandora bike path. “He lurched forward toward the bike lanes, but then stopped. There’s a big sign that says yield to bicyclists. So I had the right of way,” Hoover said.
Hoover hit his brakes, but it was too late. He went over his handlebars and slammed into the van, separating his shoulder and tearing the cartilage.
When police arrived, he said, the officer implied the accident was his fault for travelling too fast, but later said he wasn’t going to lay blame. No tickets were issued and no charges laid.
Hoover said he clearly was not at fault. “That’s the bike lane you want me in. I was going the same speed as everyone else. This could happen to anyone. I don’t know what more I could have done.”
The city officially opened the $3.4-million two-way bike path on Pandora between Cook and Store streets more than a month ago.
Hoover wants to see more education and enforcement on the path for cyclists and motorists.
“I don’t think people understand them,” he said, adding that he was speaking with a woman who was in an accident on the bike path within a block of where his occurred that resulted in a broken elbow. “We need big signs that say yield to cyclists because no one really understands them yet. I don’t want a bad roll-out and bad signs to ruin a good initiative.”
The new bike path has also created challenges for ambulances trying to get across the Johnson Street Bridge. A B.C. Ambulance paramedic said that on Saturday, he watched as an ambulance, with lights and sirens blaring, was stuck in the 500-block of Pandora Avenue because cars were blocked in by the bike-lane median on the right and parked cars on the left. The light was red and traffic could not move to let the ambulance through.
The paramedic, who was off-duty at the time, said the ambulance driver reversed on Pandora Avenue back to Government Street, and drove west on Yates Street instead.
“A lot of these bike lanes are causing more congestion in blocks and it takes more time [for an ambulance] to get through,” said the paramedic, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of B.C. Ambulance Service.
Victoria Fire Deputy Chief Dan Atkinson said the department has not made any changes, in terms of avoiding Pandora Avenue as an emergency route, but the bikes lanes “are still very new, so we’re still evaluating operations.”
Several drivers who spoke to the Times Colonist said they avoid Pandora Avenue, either because of congestion or confusion over the no-right-turn-on-red rule.
Kevin Grout, who commutes on his bike daily, said he used the bike lane for the first time during Bike to Work week and had three close calls with pedestrians who stepped into the lane without looking. He said even though he’s a regular cyclist, he felt uneasy in the bike lanes.
“I wonder, with as many visitors as there are to Victoria, whether unfamiliarity with the system will cause ongoing issues for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers,” Grout said.
“Safety ambassadors” were stationed along the Pandora bike lane for the first two weeks of May. The city is now running an awareness campaign through radio and newspaper ads, videos and social media, said city spokeswoman Rebecca Penz.
Victoria police have so far been issuing warnings for violating rules, but ticketing is set to begin this month, Penz said.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, a daily user of the new bike path, said she’s received no reports of any accidents, but she admits she’s had a couple of close calls.
“I almost got hit today. I guess that’s a near miss, but it was from a person turning right on a red, so I just stuck my hand out and then he stopped,” she said. “But it’s new for people to get used to. It requires paying extra attention for everybody — for pedestrians, for cyclists and for people driving.”
The bike path has been well-engineered and follows best practices from other cities, Helps said.
An issue the city might have to look at is the number of driveways along Pandora between Vancouver and Quadra — the one into McDonald’s in particular, she said.
But she said one of the messages that has to be drilled home to both motorists and cyclists is that green paint on the road means pay attention.
“Green paint is a signal to slow down and pay attention,” Helps said. “It’s an engineering standard now across North America that green paint is a conflict zone on the pavement.”
