A lack of consistency in the appearance and safety measures of regional trail intersections is a problem, says Corey Burger of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition.
“People get hit unfortunately at pretty much all of the [busy] regional trail intersections,” said Burger. Part of the challenge is that every intersection is designed a bit differently, he said.
Dentist Rachel Staples was hit while riding on a marked crossing for cyclists on two-lane Wale Road on Dec. 4 as she travelled to her practice in Colwood.
She was on the 55-kilometre multi-use Galloping Goose trail, that runs from Victoria to Sooke, travelling from Oak Bay. She said she checked for traffic and entered a crossing at Wale Road which leads to the Island Highway. The crossing has painted “elephant’s feet” markings on each side to indicate to drivers that cyclists can ride across.
Wale Road is one of the better trail crossings in that it has those markings, said Burger.
Still, the Capital Regional District’s 2016 trail management plan that guides decision-making, priority setting, and budget planning for the next decade “kind of ignored the regional trail intersections” because they are owned by a mix of jurisdictions including various municipalities with different sets of approaches and the Ministry of Transportation, said Burger.
Ideally these crossings should be well lit, and raised “but the really key thing is they should all look the same,” said Burger.
“So when the driver or a person on a bike or person walking approaches them, their mind goes ‘oh, this is a trail intersection, people are going to be on bikes here, or this is a road crossing so I’m looking for people driving,’ ” said Burger. “And that’s really crucial.”
Burger hopes this is something the CRD will be looking at “because it is a major challenge with the regional trail network.”
A short distance from Wale Road, the City of Colwood has applied for funding to build an overpass that would create a safe and uninterrupted crossing of the Galloping Goose trail over the Island Highway.
The city has applied for funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, a federal grant that supports public infrastructure projects. If successful, design work could start in March for construction in the fall.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
