For over 90 minutes at a meeting on Monday (Oct. 7), District of Saanich councillors listened to a lineup of Mann Avenue residents, pleading for controversial plans to install two protected bike lanes on their street to be paused.
The group of residents, who will lose all street parking to the bike lanes, again told councillors they feel blindsided by the plans, which began construction days after they received notice of the project on Sept. 13.
Ahead of the Oct. 7 meeting, all street parking had been removed on Mann Avenue, forcing some residents to park on their lawns and others to use adjoining side streets.
While some residents said they were supportive of safety improvements for cyclists, their main concerns focused on the lack of communication and transparency of the plans.
“This is a project where we may had some shortcomings on communications that we’ve produced to date,” said Troy McKay, senior manager of transportation and development division, at the meeting during a presentation about the project, which had been requested by councillors following the public outcry.
Locals were hopeful the presentation would inspire councillors to reconsider the plans, and instead invite the community to have their input on a new design, benefiting both cyclists and Mann Avenue residents.
But they were left disappointed when the majority of councillors voted in favour of ‘receiving the presentation’ as an acknowledgment of the project proceeding.
After the meeting residents said they were left feeling disheartened and skeptical of council procedures.
“It really felt like public input was just for show,” said one Mann Avenue resident, who asked to remain anonymous. “It seemed clear Saanich had a predetermined agenda, with half-truths in the staff presentation and a lack of commitment to finding a balanced solution for the entire community … We just wanted a fair compromise.”
In support of the Mann Avenue residents, Coun. Nathalie Chambers, who voted against the motion, said the bike lane project was an example of how opportunities for the public to participate in council business has been on the decline in Saanich. She described finding information about the Mann Avenue project on the district's website as similar to an archeological dig.
"You'd have to dig through four layers of Saanich planning information to find anything," said Chambers. "I don't expect regular citizens to look that up."
As a result of the upset caused by the Mann Avenue project, the district said it will ensure there is at least one month's notice given to residents before work begins on future projects.
“The communication on this project did not live up to our expectations,” said Mayor Dean Murdock. “We fell short, and we can do better.”
The mayor went on to apologize for the stress caused by the breakdown in communication and said the council would learn from their mistakes for future projects.
“We will do better both in terms of timing and the information that we're going to provide.”
While news of the bike lane plans moving forward as planned was disappointing for most Mann Avenue residents, it was good news for the many locals who spoke at the meeting, or emailed in advance, in support of the project.
Some cyclists described feeling nervous cycling down Mann Avenue because of the number of parked cars on the street and the speed of vehicles.
“[This] means there's gonna be many hundreds of people who will use this corridor safely to get to where they need to go, including kids, including older adults, including families," said Murdock about the Mann Avenue bike lanes. "And that's a priority.”
Installation of the Mann Avenue protected bike lanes should be complete by the end of October.
