11042 replies to this topic

[marks_28]

This isn't really suddenly, it's been in the discussions for quite a while, before bike lanes were discussed.

 

https://www.oakbayne...ctoria-in-2019/

 

Looks like this crosswalk was approved and was set to be installed in 2019. Any idea as to why it didn't happen last year? 

[Ismo07]

https://www.oakbayne...ctoria-in-2019/

 

Looks like this crosswalk was approved and was set to be installed in 2019. Any idea as to why it didn't happen last year? 

 

No I don't but it's been discussed far longer than that.

[Danma]

The Goose should have been cycle-only right from Day 1, designed to accommodate cycling at any speed and not as a pedestrian walk at all.  Or, have had a second path constructed in parallel that's pedestrian-only; but that wouldn't stop small children and pets from running into the cycle lane.

While I wouldn't go quite that far, I do think the Goose from the gorge trestle to the uptown overpass would REALLY benefit from separated foot/cycling paths, at least. The combination of poor sightlines and sheer levels of traffic during non-COVID times can make this section stressful for both pedestrians and cyclists

[aastra]

 

....pedestrian volumes at kings and blanshard are 100x less than view and douglas.

 

That's a helluva contentious claim. Are you trying to ignite a raging argument? Forumer against forumer, brother against brother?

 

No, seriously, I think most people probably understand that Kings at Blanshard isn't anything like View at Douglas. Heck, Kings and Blanshard isn't anything like Kings at Quadra. But the point here is that Blanshard Street's situation is a self-fulfilling one. I'll go out on a limb and say there would be many more people crossing at Kings and other places if Blanshard hadn't been turned into a facsimile of an urban highway and if the blocks on either side of Blanshard hadn't been cut off from one another (this is what Greg was saying re: infrastructure changing people rather than accommodating people).

 

Don't quote me but I seem to recall that was one of the CoV's brilliant premises behind their Blanshard-Rose mission. Since the prevalent uses on the west side tended to be different from the prevalent uses on the east side, there was really no need for continued easy access between them.

[aastra]

Some Blanshard-Rose news items here. Every Victorian today needs to be familiar with that saga. Politicians in particular should be required to know it backwards and forwards. So many aspects of the controversy and its long-term aftermath were engineered and self-fulfilling.

 

*****

 

THE CoV's TOP CONCERN IS THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF DOWNTOWN VICTORIA... AND A SHORT URBAN HIGHWAY IS THE VITAL INGREDIENT:
 

 

Daily Colonist
October 2, 1963

Rose May Wear Ribbons

 

The arterial road link was built... to ensure that traffic generated by the Mayfair shopping centre, which opens its doors in two weeks, can easily get downtown.

Traffic chairman Ald. Mooney said he is convinced the "only way to keep Victoria alive and active is to permit people to travel to and from the downtown area with the minimum of difficulty."

Ease of access to the wide variety of stores in the city centre will ensure the health of the high-tax area, he said.

 

*****

 

THE WEST SIDE OF BLANSHARD IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE EAST SIDE... AND THIS WILL BECOME OBVIOUS ONCE THE CoV RELOCATES ALL OF THE THINGS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON THE WRONG SIDE:

 

 

Daily Colonist
May 11, 1966

Green Light Expected on Renewal

Another important phase of the program would be the relocation of North Ward School on a seven-acre tract on the east side of the development between Hillside and Kings Road.

The city would provide the new school site and dispose of the present location, on Douglas Street, for commercial use.

 

 

Daily Colonist
July 13, 1966

Blighted Area Doom Nearer

The Rose-Blanshard project -- Victoria's multi-million-dollar dream for an urban renewal scheme which would bring new life to the city's blighted core -- moved a big step nearer to reality Tuesday.

Area covered by the project is an older residential district with substantial portions of commercial and industrial properties. It lies within an area bounded by Hillside, Quadra, Kings, Blanshard, Pembroke, and Douglas, and occupies about 30 acres.

The main symptom of the disease which now afflicts the area, planners say, is a conglomeration of incompatible land uses to the disadvantage of all concerned.

Rose Street reconstruction, with its 110-foot right-of-way on a new alignment, will be developed as an extension of Blanshard. This road, with its landscaped centre boulevard, will separate commercial users on the west side from residences on the east.

 

*****

 

WE LIVE IN AN ERA WHEN ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN'T EXPECT TO OWN A HOUSE... AND JUST IN CASE YOU AREN'T CONVINCED, THE CoV WILL PROVE IT BY EXPROPRIATING AND DEMOLISHING DOZENS AND DOZENS OF OLD HOUSES:

 

 

Daily Colonist
May 3, 1967

 

Rose-Blanshard-Hillside Renewal
City Reaches Halfway Mark on Purchase of Property

The rebirth of the city's most badly blighted area will see about 30 acres renewed.

"It seems to me," said one senior official, "that we will, in this country, have to get away sooner or later from the concept that every man is entitled to own a home. With land taxes and other costs steadily mounting, it is soon going to be impossible for people in certain income groups."

 

 

 

Daily Colonist
May 11, 1966

Green Light Expected on Renewal

Long Range Plan
If the project goes ahead, the part of Victoria with the highest concentration of welfare cases will, in an 18-month period, be in the vanguard of a long-range redevelopment program designed over future years to clean up most of the blight spots in the city.

The renewal area, on the fringe of the downtown core, is bounded by Hillside, Quadra, Kings, Blanshard, Pembroke, and Douglas.

It is... one of the older residential sections of the city and contains the largest concentration of poor housing.

Of the 127 residences in the section, 91 per cent were built before 1912. Seventy-six per cent of the homes have been classified by a social service survey as "poor," and 24 per cent as "fair" or "good."

Most households have an income of from $250 to $500 a month and are occupied by ethnic minorities who prefer the district because of the high concentration of their own people.

"I want to emphasize that we will be doing this ourselves," (City Planner) Greenhaigh told aldermen. "The only help we will get from Ottawa is in the form of cheques."

The 127 residences in the area would be acquired by the city and razed... The new plan would provide 120 living units, most of which would have three bedrooms.

 

*****

 

Anyway...

Edited by aastra, 06 July 2020 - 12:20 PM.

[rmpeers]

I see the new bike lane announcement as a bright shiny object the major can whip out to distract from the 24/7 gong-show governance that is plaguing us.

[Mike K.]

I'm not sure I understand. Your point would be more relevant if this same council didn't also have a Herald Street crossing in planning. So because people waited decades for the city to do something about Herald, they should also have to wait decades for this one?

My point is survey after survey and with letters to editors, letters to council and some gnarly travel mode meet-ups, it has taken decades to see action.

But one day Councillor Isitt announces there’s a major need for a crossing at Kings at Blanshard, and it immediately becomes a top priority.

I know there’s a moral to that story somewhere.

[Cats4Hire]

I know there’s a moral to that story somewhere.

that if you want something done become a councilor so you too can do what you want not caring about those who elected you?

[Spy Black]

 

The 127 residences in the area would be acquired by the city and razed... The new plan would provide 120 living units, most of which would have three bedrooms.

 

Would these "living units" be todays Evergreen Terrace along Blanshard St between Hillside and Bay?

[aastra]

Yep. The dense old neighbourhood was erased to create modern Blanshard Street, Blanshard Courts (now Evergreen Terrace), the new site for the Times-Colonist, and the empty grounds for the new Blanshard Elementary school (which have since been built upon again).

 

pic of lost Blanshard-Rose neighbourhood excerpted from http://vintageairphotos.com/bo-47-1457/

 

This 1966 news item is fascinating to me because it makes reference to a "sample of urban renewal in Toronto." Let the record show, only once in the city of Victoria's history did anybody ever admire Toronto-style development, and it was at the worst possible moment and for the worst possible motives.

 

It's interesting, isn't it? A central neighbourhood was deemed to be such a blight, such a social issue, such a public health issue, that it needed to be expropriated and razed. Suffice it to say, the authorities have never been able to keep their story straight re: what constitutes a legitimate social issue or a legitimate public health issue. Or how best to address the housing crisis. Or what defines a city's heritage. Or etc.

Edited by aastra, 07 July 2020 - 09:32 AM.

[Rob Randall]

It's difficult to put a finger on what exactly it was about Blanshard-Rose that made it a target. James Bay was also considered urban blight but mostly escaped the bulldozer's wrath. I think it was the immigrant population. A high concentration of people of colour surely tipped the scales. Because the density and architectural style was no different than many other neighbourhoods that attracted the working class.

[Kungsberg]

'We’re not changing the design': Victoria, Oak Bay in dispute over bike lane plan

 

As the City of Victoria continues to roll out its expanded cycling network, one regional mayor says his council has been left in the dark when it comes to planning.

 

Plans for the Richardson Street bike lane include a barrier at the Victoria-Oak Bay border that will suppress automobile traffic on the street. 

 

…[Oak Bay] Mayor Kevin Murdoch says there has been no consultation between his council and councillors in Victoria.

 

‘…the fact that the final design that came forward was blocking off… all Oak Bay traffic at the border was a surprise for us."

 

Murdoch said the district would like to discuss the decision with Victoria, saying "that design has a significant impact on our community, and so we’d like the chance to have a discussion with them.” 

 

….“I think probably it would be good for our staff to go and present to Oak Bay council and say, 'You know, here’s what’s happening and here are the implications,'” Helps said. 

 

“But at this point we’re not changing the design.”...

 

Full article: https://vancouverisl...-plan-1.5014874

 

 

[Mike K.]

I can’t think of another instance where a municipality, anywhere in the CRD, decided to single handedly close road access to and from a neighbouring municipality without any consultation.

My only thought here is Victoria asked if OB would care to extend the lane into their border, the district said no, and the doors shut at that moment.

[Nparker]

Typical CoV consultation.

[Mike K.]

We do have a scenario along Dominion where Pine in Vic West is blocked at Devonshire in Esquimalt to through-traffic, so traffic heading to or from Vic West must turn north/south onto Dominion.

But this was done openly and was not a surprise. I also think it was done more-so to keep freight traffic from using Pine to get to the Devonshire industrial area.

[Rob Randall]

Saanich has a strict border control point preventing non-cyclists from entering their territory along the North Dairy border.

 

https://www.google.c...!4d-123.3631238

[Nparker]

If one were to start from scratch to create a more poorly governed region than the CRD, I doubt it would be possible. We are truly a model of dysfunction.

[Mike K.]

Saanich has a strict border control point preventing non-cyclists from entering their territory along the North Dairy border.

https://www.google.c...!4d-123.3631238

But again, that wasn’t a surprise to Victoria, and it’s a traffic flow restriction on a tiny residential street for Saanich residents so they stick to the main thoroughfares. Saanich made a series of these closures along its border to control traffic flow along main roads in the area (Shelbourne, Cedar Hill, and Richmond).

In the Richardson case Victoria is closing a main thoroughfare out of Oak Bay with zero consultation with Oak Bay. In fact, Richardson is the only east-west crossing between Oak Bay and Beach, other than a tiny side street or two. It’s so busy of a crossing that it’s a four way stop.

[Spy Black]

Mayor and Council in Victoria seem to want to force all traffic either south onto Fairfield, or North onto Fort?

Whatever the intent, for many thousands of residents of South Oak Bay who work, or shop in the downtown core, this is simply a ridiculous undertaking.

 

For those residents of the south-central portion of Oak Bay, Fairfield and the Oak Bay Ave/Fort (the two "other" east/west roads into the downtown core) are too far north and south of Richardson to be considered either convenient or responsible, with both routes burning more fuel, and taking longer than straight over to Cook and into the downtown core on Richardson.

 

Victoria Council is, by all appearances, completely out of control on their priorities, as well the decisions they make, decisions which cost Victoria taxpayers millions of dollars, and decisions which have turned the downtown core into the incredibly inconvenient and somewhat risky area its most definitely become.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s so busy of a crossing that it’s a four way stop.

 

and not a traffic light.  so it's not really a major crossing if you ask me.

 

if traffic coming from oak bay has to go north or south at that point i'm not sure it's the end of the world.  i actually feel we have too many through (residential) streets in many cases.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 July 2020 - 06:33 AM.