SAANICHNEWS 100 years of education
Tooting his horn
With a parade and a scottie dog, students old and new celebrate McKenzie elementary’s 100 years. News, Page A3
Big band conductor acts as role model for local musicians. Entertainment, Page A17
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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Traffic dictates planning on Shelbourne Cutting corridor to three lanes not viable, says study
Construction is underway on a new bike path through Rainbow Park in Saanich. The District wants to encourage cycling in the community, but some neighbours object to plowing through a park.
Kyle Slavin News staff
The Shelbourne Street corridor won’t be getting bike lanes anytime soon. Traffic on Shelbourne north of Hillside Centre is simply too heavy to knock the road down to three lanes to better accommodate buses, cyclists and pedestrians, according to a consultant report looking at a 25-year plan to revamp one of the major arteries of Saanich. “We have over 25,000 cars going along Shelbourne south of McKenzie (Avenue) every day, and the transportation modelling shows that if we were to limit the number of lanes on Shelbourne to two or three, that traffic would disperse onto parallel routes, such as Richmond and Cedar Hill,” said Saanich planner Harold Stanley. “And those roads aren’t built to handle that kind of traffic.” The report, from Urban Systems, looked at two- and three-lane options on Shelbourne. Stanley noted that a lane reduction would likely negate any benefit from increased public transit along the corridor. “Reducing the number of lanes from four to three or two would cause enough congestion and delays that it’s unlikely that B.C. Transit would follow through on their plans for frequent transit on Shelbourne,” Stanley said. Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff, somewhat skeptical about the transportation modelling, is optimistic that fewer people would drive if dense urban centres along Shelbourne were properly executed.
Don Denton/ News staff
Riding the Rainbow connection Saanich, neighbours butt heads over bike path through park Kyle Slavin News staff
Ongoing construction of a bike path through a colourful Saanich park is leaving some area residents seeing red. Rainbow Park, located off McKenzie Avenue and the Pat Bay Highway, is in the midst of a commuter cycling route connecting the Galloping Goose trail (from the municipal hall) to Quadra Street. And while more than 18 months of discussions and compromises between Saanich and neighbours helped firm up a plan, neighbours are still unhappy that the
PLEASE SEE: Saanich to pitch, Page A6
municipality’s solution to the problem is to build the concrete path through the park. “The whole bike path was contested (by the neighbourhood) from the word ‘go,’” said Ralph Street resident Matt Yerrell, who is speaking for a group of neighbours. “We have concerns. And when you try to maintain your neighbourhood as best you can, it seems you unfortunately have to fight with Saanich to do that.” Saanich’s manager of transportation says the new Douglas Street connector is part of council’s goal of increasing cycling in the municipality. Jim Hemstock says getting through Rainbow Park is the trickiest and most expensive part of the bike path, as much of the rest of the route will be on existing road. “The park has had a little bit of a beating in the past,” he said, referring to a large portion of Rainbow Park that was lost when the McKenzie-Pat Bay interchange was built
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in 1994. “Residents were pretty sensitive when we said we wanted to put a bike route through the park. We tried to find a design that had as minimum impact as possible, but even so, there’s some folks that would prefer us not to be there.” Yerrell’s concerns are not with Saanich being there – it’s that he believes there was a communication breakdown, amid months of back-and-forth meetings, on what both sides ultimately agreed on for the park. “A lot of this might be alleviated if Saanich comes back (to a neighbourhood) for follow-up before implementing a project like this – ‘this is what we’re doing, this is what we’re not doing,’” he said. A secondary concrete path connecting the new bike path to the existing playground is another bone of contention. PLEASE SEE: Park will look better, Page A2
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