In recent weeks, the Quadra McKenzie Plan has sparked significant discontent among Greater Victoria residents. Following the district’s decision on Oct. 21 to advance the plan to its third phase, the city hall is now seeking public input through an online survey, webinars, and open houses.
Gordon Head resident Brandon Prive was among the crowd at the Nov. 5 open house at Saanich Centre, concerned like many about the draft proposal to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction on sections of McKenzie Avenue.
“I just find the [neighbourhood’s] roads so atrocious already and everything I'm reading seems like it's going to get worse,” said Prive. “I just don't see how that benefits the majority of people.”
Living in Saanich's east end, Prive is already facing longer daily commutes due to the Shelbourne Street Improvements Project. Now, he’s concerned the McKenzie Quadra Plan will only exacerbate congestion on the municipality's main arteries.
While not opposed to the plan per se, noting that active transportation can benefit the neighbourhood, Prive remained doubtful about its execution.
“I'd love it if everybody biked, but I just don't see it happening with our weather and with how everything is spread out,” he said.
As Prive continued strolling through the room showing layouts and visuals from the proposed draft plan, David Krug approached from the other direction. The Saanich resident and avid cyclist was there to voice his support for the project.
“I believe that that future is one that contains biking and busing. I'm an active transportation advocate,” said Krug. “I bike and bus everywhere and I think we need to design infrastructure that is going to support the future that we want to see.
Despite the opposition the draft plan has faced in recent weeks, Krug said he's “100 per cent” ready for the shift proposed by the city.
“My understanding is that building infrastructure for bikes and buses does not actually cause more congestion,” he said. “It only supports better transportation for folks who are choosing not to use cars as a means of transportation.
“I think those kinds of concerns are maybe a little unfounded.”
A few metres from Krug, Peter Kelly and his wife carefully examine a poster to gather information and form an opinion on the proposed draft.
“We're here because we're in the area very close to the Saanich Centre and we want to know what's going on,” said Kelly. “My one concern is that if they narrow [McKenzie Avenue] too much, there will be no traffic getting through. It's already very busy.”
Like Prive, Kelly isn’t opposed to the project but doesn’t fully support it.
“I'm open-minded and I want to see what they can do if they can do it, like putting bus lanes, that would be great,” said Kelly. “But I'm not sure how they would get away with narrowing the roads down.
“[During rush hours,] it's a zoo out there and to go from two to one lane is just not going to help things. Hopefully, they've thought about a lot of this stuff.”
Though Kelly, a Saanich resident for 60 years, said retirement has lessened his traffic concerns, he noted that the influx of newcomers and recent developments have increased stress on local roads.
Behind Kelly stood friends and neighbours Stu Hackett and Ron Walchuk, who live near Beckwith Park. The two expressed concerns about the plan proposed for their area which has been identified as a hub in the draft.
“We have all these events during the summer like soccer on weekends, kids trying to come and go to the games,” said Walchuk. “[If] you build all these extra multi-unit housing, apartments and condos, it's going to add more traffic and stress on parking.
“Essentially, it's just going to make our life in that area miserable.”
Both men hypothesized that this issue would extend beyond their neighbourhood, including Quadra and McKenzie.
“You take away two lanes for buses or bikes along that road, everything is going to grind to a halt,” said Hackett.
In addition to their concerns about the proposed draft, the two men were skeptical about how their feedback would truly influence the plan and shape its future.
At the event, attendees were invited to write comments and questions on post-it notes and stick them on a board.
Hackett and Walchuk were not impressed by this approach.
“This is very nice… to have this open house, but it would be nice if a city planner was here or a city council (member) who's going to be voting on this at some point,” said Hackett. “I don't think they have a clue what's going on.”
“I like that they're trying to gather some input but I'm not convinced that anything will change,” added Walchuk. “My concern is they have these public forums, but I don't know if we'll be able to affect the decisions that are already in place. I hope it's just not lip service.”
Given the scale of the project, the two men concluded that there was no need to rush things.
“I hope they’re not throwing things against the wall and see what sticks,” said Hackett. “We don't need to decide on a plan [now] so there's no reason to aggressively push something like this forward.
“Hopefully, the results of this [public] engagement influence the plan.”
The mayor’s response
The following day, Saanich News spoke with Mayor Dean Murdock about the open houses, which drew over 700 attendees. Although he couldn’t attend, Murdock appreciated the strong participation and feedback from the community.
“Of course, there was a lot of interest... around the use of McKenzie and the lanes for rapid transit,” said Murdock. “Beyond just the open houses, my council colleagues and I have had a lot of email and in-person feedback on that part of the plan in particular which has generated a lot of frustration from folks.”
Murdock recognized that some components of the plan ought to be reviewed.
“We fully recognize that, for some folks, what's proposed isn't workable,” he said. “We're gonna have to think differently about how we accommodate public transit on that corridor without significantly impacting other commuters' ability to use it.”
As a decision-maker, Murdock mentioned that his role as a mayor was to ultimately “make life better for people.”
Highlighting that public engagement for the draft ends on Nov. 25, Murdock noted that council has time to provide gathered feedback to city staff. This will allow the draft to balance the need for public transit while also ensuring smooth traffic flow on the district's roads.
“We've got some time to figure this out,” said Murdock. “We'll need to think carefully about how we do that and make sure that McKenzie continues to be a very well-used corridor that continues to be one that facilitates all modes of travel.”
The project timeline states that after the public input period, staff will revise the plan and present it to the council in early January 2025.
“This is all a long-term vision… and it's so important that it reflects the voices of the people who live in Saanich and who care about the neighbourhoods around these corridors,” said Murdock. “I'm so pleased that we've got a good level of engagement.
“[Their] feedback will certainly be reflected in the final version of the plan.”
To provide feedback on the Quadra McKenzie Plan, complete the survey at shorturl.at/k0xbT.
