11042 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

... If only there was a remotely safe or convenient place to lock/store a bike at my work.

Use a green bike; then you can just abandon it anywhere that's convenient to you.

[NaCl]

Approximately 30 parking spaces have been removed on the 400 block Belleville.

[TallGuy]

It appears that they are now considering using Vancouver instead of Cook Street.

If you are wanting to turn boulevards into asphalt be prepared to open your wallet.

 

Create a bike lane similar to 10th Ave in Vancouver and be done with it. Minimal infrastructure, minimal cost, and it works well.

[Bingo]

If you are wanting to turn boulevards into asphalt be prepared to open your wallet.

 

When the boulevards are wide you could give up some grass for a dedicated lane on each side of Vancouver Street shown here.

 

[Nparker]

Based on this CHEK poll, the CoV needs to invest more in its roads and sidewalks.

[mbjj]

We noticed that change on Belleville the other day. I remember back in the 1960s one time we had a heavy snowfall. My dad managed to get his car out of the driveway to drive to work (not in Victoria). He ended up coming home as he couldn't find a clear spot to park in. I think Victoria is getting like that. We'll head out in the car and be back in fifteen minutes as there won't be any place to park. I guess that is the mayor's intention.

[Rob Randall]

^No place to park at all or no convenient place to park?

[Bob Fugger]

One detail of the plan that has not received any attention is the proposed road closure of Humboldt Street at Douglas Street. This eliminates yet another east-west thoroughfare (along with Rockland Avenue), pushing people to cross an uncontrolled intersection at the crest of a hill (Burdett Street) or funnel even more people to the ill-equipped intersections along Fairfield Road.

[sdwright.vic]

^more traffic lights my friend, more traffic lights coming soon.

😠

[Bob Fugger]

The other detail that coworkers and I were discussing was that the Wharf Street portion appears to be configured on the wrong (West) side of the street. Sure, it’s a purdier view for cyclists, but the interactions with the other bike lanes (most notably Fort Street and Pandora Avenue) comes from the east side of the street. Also, the interaction with the new JSB also appears to be on the wrong side. You have none of these issues if you configure the bike lanes on the east side of the street.

But hey, sd may be wright: more traffic lights.

[On the Level]

The statements made by the council about being concerned about the loss of parking are disingenuous.  The real intent is based on the ideology that more parking that is removed, the more people will be "forced from" their cars.  People use cars because it is convenient.  Make it inconvenient.    

 

The issue is not the creation of bike lanes, it is the implementation.  The measure of success should be creating a viable option for those that can use it.  It shouldn't be to create hardship in expectation of a resulting adoption.

 

If Helps truly was managing the city for all it's citizens and businesses, she would have at the very least maintained the status quo for parking, at least the parking removed from the bike lanes.  The city makes a great deal of money on parking and could have easily have planned a new parkade underneath the proposed waterfront park or elsewhere.

[sdwright.vic]

But hey, sd may be wright: more traffic lights.

Ha! I see what you did there!

[mbjj]

^No place to park at all or no convenient place to park?

No place to park. I expect to walk a few blocks wherever I park. It seems parkades are full except for the weekend. I never even try to park on the street.

[Rob Randall]

^That's not good to hear. 

[spanky123]

The statements made by the council about being concerned about the loss of parking are disingenuous.  The real intent is based on the ideology that more parking that is removed, the more people will be "forced from" their cars.  People use cars because it is convenient.  Make it inconvenient.    

 

The issue is not the creation of bike lanes, it is the implementation.  The measure of success should be creating a viable option for those that can use it.  It shouldn't be to create hardship in expectation of a resulting adoption.

 

If Helps truly was managing the city for all it's citizens and businesses, she would have at the very least maintained the status quo for parking, at least the parking removed from the bike lanes.  The city makes a great deal of money on parking and could have easily have planned a new parkade underneath the proposed waterfront park or elsewhere.

 

What we 3 years now out from the self-driving cars that Helps claimed everyone would be using? We won't need any parking then.

[On the Level]

^ There are 3 years left......might be true, same as curing homelessness from the recently announced supportive housing rental units.  May 2021, I'll be enjoying my downtown walk with no issues we see today, all while randomly darting out into traffic with no worry due to the absoluteness of the driver-less cars. 

 

Anyone want to join me?  We could schedule it as a VV event. 

[rjag]

No place to park. I expect to walk a few blocks wherever I park. It seems parkades are full except for the weekend. I never even try to park on the street.

 

Agreed, classic case twice this week, several meetings downtown, I now plan to leave 45 mins before from UVic area to get sorted due to shortage of parking and the gridlock of lane reductions....how is that a productive use of time? I don't even bother with Fort anymore

Edited by rjag, 24 May 2018 - 06:06 AM.

[Cassidy]

Unless the "new" COV mayor and council nuke this bike lane silliness, it's probably time most residents of the region just accept that downtown isn't for surrounding residents any longer, it's for the tourists, the daytime workers, and the folks who fill up the condos sold in the downtown core.

 

The future doesn't portend very many people "going" downtown any longer, it will be mainly for folks who are already there.

 

Hillside Mall, Uptown, and Mayfair will no doubt see massive increase in shoppers who will have discovered that shopping (parking) downtown is all but impossible, and if you can get a spot, it's going to be a drain on your wallet.

Even Oak Bay Village is booming these days, as parking is WAY easier to find there than it is downtown (something that hasn't always been true, Oak Bay hasn't changed but downtown has!).

 

Although downtown will no doubt always have daytime workers in abundance, I and almost everybody I speak with feel that this current mayor and council have laid the groundwork to kill all focused daytime shopping in the downtown core. Victoria was already leaning heavily away from "specialty" stores (that aren't tourist stores) in the downtown core ... and now there's really nothing in the downtown core one could shop for that you couldn't get at any major mall with quick, easy, and free parking.

 

This belief that bicycles will one day dominate transit in the COV is a complete pipe dream, perpetrated by unfocused, left-wing zealots on council who have no idea how real people lead their lives ... more to the point, they simply couldn't care less how normal people lead their lives.

The one person in a thousand who will go shopping for Christmas presents on their bicycle will be laughing ... but the ten thousand folks who go Christmas shopping with their cars won't care, as they'll be Christmas shopping anywhere and everywhere BUT downtown Victoria.

 

The reality now is that the downtown core is a gridlocked mess during the day (including Sunday), and that parking within 4 blocks of where you might want to go is simply not going to happen.

Why bother with downtown when you can (very soon) pop into Mayfair Mall (perhaps the new Apple Store) after spending 2 minutes looking for a parking spot ... park for free ... stay dry and warm ... grab a bite to eat ... and avoid downtown gridlock completely.

 

The short answer is nobody will bother.

Edited by Cassidy, 24 May 2018 - 06:33 AM.

[Cats4Hire]

Why bother with downtown when you can (very soon) pop into Mayfair Mall (perhaps the new Apple Store) after spending 2 minutes looking for a parking spot ... park for free ... stay dry and warm ... grab a bite to eat ... and avoid downtown gridlock completely.

 

The short answer is nobody will bother.

I wonder if Chapters foresaw this when they decided to move to Mayfair. Aside from them MEC is the only store I can think of that I go downtown for that isn't elsewhere in the CRD.

[rjag]

I wonder if Chapters foresaw this when they decided to move to Mayfair. Aside from them MEC is the only store I can think of that I go downtown for that isn't elsewhere in the CRD.

Yup, cant remember the last time I went to the Bay Centre, now even less chance. I feel sorry for retailers downtown, between this bs perpetuated by small special interests, lack of parking, lane reductions and road closures and now the bag ban...classic leftist ideology, interfere with business as much as possible ...in the words of Ronald Reagan, the most terrifying words... "I'm from the government and I'm here to help..."