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Victoria councillors back two-way bike lane on Pandora Avenue

City of Victoria councillors have voted in favour of a two-way separated bike lane on Pandora Avenue between Cook Street and the Johnson Street Bridge.
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Proposed two-way bike lane on Pandora Avenue.

City of Victoria councillors have voted in favour of a two-way separated bike lane on Pandora Avenue between Cook Street and the Johnson Street Bridge.

It would be the first protected bike lane in the city, a move to improve cycling safety by separating cyclists from motor vehicle lanes with barriers such as planters or curbs. If successful, more protected bike lanes could be added within the next three years, said Mayor Lisa Helps.

The two-way bike lane would be built on the north side of Pandora along a stretch that is one-way westbound for motor vehicles. The lane would provide a connection to the Galloping Goose Regional Trail via the Johnson Street Bridge, Helps said.

Council was asked to consider two options: a two-way lane on Pandora, and a pair of one-way lanes on Pandora and Johnson.

The cost of the two-way Pandora option is at estimated $2.16 million, compared with $2.8 million for one-way protected lanes on Pandora and Johnson.

The Pandora option also removes fewer parking spaces — 44 compared with 78. A separated bike lane on Johnson would also require some sidewalks to be narrowed.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the two-way lane at Thursday’s governance and priorities committee, meaning the issue will likely get final approval at next week’s council meeting.

Public consultation on the bike lanes was divided.

John Luton, former city councillor and past president of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, said he’s frustrated that councillors seem to have favoured the less-costly option instead of the more logical one.

Luton doesn’t buy the argument that people will suddenly start using Pandora Avenue to travel east if their normal route is Johnson Street. “For people who imagine that this is going to draw a whole bunch of new trips travelling east by bike, that’s disconnected from the reality of how the road networks operate,” he said. “People aren’t going to travel up Pandora eastbound if their destination isn’t there.”

Luton said councillors should have waited until the new Johnson Street Bridge was finished, allowing them to analyze traffic flows for cyclists.

Edward Pullman, president of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, said while the coalition advocated for a two-way bike lane on Pandora and a one-way protected lane on Johnson Street, this is a good first step. The next candidate for a protected bike lane is Wharf Street, he said. “Then you would have two new protected facilities to the Johnson Street Bridge, which would be really valuable for cyclists.”

Construction on the Pandora bike lane could begin this fall.

“The point of building the separated infrastructure is getting people who wouldn’t otherwise cycle onto the bike paths,” Helps said. “It’s sort of an ‘if you build it they will come’ approach.”

Helps said one protected bike lane in the city won’t see droves of people ditching their cars in favour of bikes, but a separated cycle network throughout downtown just might.

The city’s goal is to have a network designed by December 2015 and work to be done in the following three years.

kderosa@timescolonist.com

— With files from Bill Cleverley