Victoria will expedite plans to swap out Shelbourne Street street parking with bike lanes so new cycling spaces are in place by the summer of 2025.
The work intends to create a seamless bike corridor that would align with major construction on Saanich’s side of the border, which includes creating separated cycling lanes.
Shelbourne was already scheduled to get AAA (all ages and abilities) bike lanes, but council on Feb. 1 unanimously supported speeding up that timeline by using quick-build methods in the interim.
The section from Haultain Street and Hillside Avenue will receive one bike lane in each direction. The stretch mainly sees one lane of vehicle traffic moving in each direction since cars park on both sides of the roadway.
The new lanes would link up with existing painted bike lanes that run from Hillside Avenue to the Saanich border at North Dairy Road. Staff said their Saanich counterparts expect Shelbourne construction just north of the border to be complete by fall.
The new Victoria lanes will not impact London plane trees that dot the boulevard along the corridor, which were planted as a memorial for soldiers of the First World War. The dedicated cycling tracks could include buffered painted lanes or ones with more protection. Staff noted the work can fit into existing budgets.
Victoria’s portion of Shelbourne will undergo significant underground utility construction in five to 10 years, staff said. In past years, the city has lined up that work with installing new protected bike lanes to save on capital costs.
Coun. Dave Thompson, whose approved motion spurred the expedited work, said an interim option is needed as the city continues to build safe places for people to cycle and roll, whether it’s seniors on scooters or parents using bikes to transport their toddlers.
Linking up with the new Saanich lanes will also create continuous bike infrastructure all the way from downtown to PKOLS (Mount Douglas), Thompson said. Saanich’s project also includes a bike connection to the University of Victoria from Shelbourne Street.
Staff said the removal of street parking can benefit people entering and leaving private driveways along Shelbourne as they’ll have improved sightlines of traffic. The city’s plans also call for not having private driveways of new developments lead onto arterial roads like Shelbourne.
READ: Construction to start on second phase of Saanich’s Shelbourne Street Improvement Project
