Victoria’s pilot project to calm traffic in Beacon Hill Park by closing roads to cars clearly missed the mark and city council needs to take another look, says Mayor Dean Fortin.
“I’m not sure we’ve struck the right chord,” Fortin said. “Our goal is to traffic-calm the park — get rid of speeding; get rid of shortcutting — but our goal is not to ruin the experience for our seniors.”
Fortin was reacting to results of a survey conducted by the city that shows most people don’t like the road closings that have been tested in Beacon Hill Park for the past 18 months.
In an effort to stop motorists from shortcutting between James Bay and Cook Street Village, and to reduce vehicle traffic in the park, Victoria councillors in August 2012 approved a pilot project that blocked some park roads, reduced parking on others and turned some into one-way routes, followed by a survey of park users about the changes.
About 1,500 people (only 11 per cent under age 30) responded and of those:
• A total of 52 per cent were unsupportive (13 per cent) or very unsupportive (39 per cent) of the changes.
• A total of 44 per cent were supportive (eight per cent) or very supportive (36 per cent).
• Four per cent were neutral.
An analysis of the survey showed that the main issue with park road closings, aside from the esthetics of temporary barriers, was lack of accessibility, especially along Bridge Way, say city parks staff.
Part of the reason for the pilot project was to make the park safer for users such as seniors, Fortin said, but many seniors have now responded that they want to be able to drive through the park.
“Often we said we wanted to make sure that the seniors are safer. What we’ve heard … is the seniors saying: ‘No, we like to drive through and see the park.’ ”
In light of the findings, city staff are recommending $120,000 be spent to make the pilot project permanent but with three primary changes, including:
• Reopening Bridge Way to one-way traffic with a parallel bike lane between the washroom buildings and the cricket pitch.
• New parking at the totem pole resulting in a new multi-use trail in the adjacent field connecting to the existing sidewalk on Dallas Road.
• Identifying a scenic route through the park.
Fortin doesn’t think spending $120,000 on something not supported by the majority is a good idea and parks staff should look at other traffic-calming approaches.
“When you look at the information that did come forward [through the surveys], people were concerned about their inability to go through and experience the park. So let’s go back and fix the problem,” Fortin said.
But Coun. Geoff Young doesn’t believe the survey results “were a slam dunk either way.” Young said the staff proposal attempts to strike a balance.
“The amendment meets some of the major objections of those who were concerned about road closures — and obviously it is a tradeoff — while trying to maintain a good chunk of the benefits the non-motor vehicle users noted.”
