1257 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

Just finished a new post on how we can preserve View Towers well into the future...

I've often thought converting the ground level of VT to retail/commercial would be a relatively easy fix. Then I look up and all I can think is implode the whole mess and start over.

[G-Man]

It is not that bad. The issue is that the ground floor isn't keeping you from looking up

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[Nparker]

A chacun son goût, but unless the ground floor can distract my eyes from blocks away in every direction, I am afraid VT will never be a winner to me..

[G-Man]

New post up on Sidewalking Victoria. Somehow it has been three years since I started and my latest post looks back at some of my favourites.

https://www.sidewalk...ctoria-is-three

[G-Man]

Just put up a new post. This time on Witty's Lagoon Park! https://www.sidewalk...a-wittys-lagoon

[G-Man]

Sidewalking has a new post up on one of the adventures I went on this summer. This trip was to Bamfield and Pachena Bay! Have a look: https://www.sidewalk...and-pachena-bay

[Brantastic]

I've been wondering when you were going to post next! I've only been to Bamfield once for a science field trip in middle school, despite having spent most of my life living in Port Alberni. I've been meaning to check it out again, particularly for Pachena and Brady's Beach, but I've been hesitant to take the trek with my Jetta.

[G-Man]

I made it out there in a Hyundai Elantra so a Jetta would be fine. Just need to go slow. I had a pretty all encompassing summer but am hoping to get back on track with the blog now. 😀

[Mike K.]

What's the road like nowadays? Did you take the Flora Lake Main or did you go right past Franklin Lake and use the logging camp junction?

[G-Man]

Read the post dude! But seriously took the one from Franklin Camp. It was terrible in a car. Had to go pretty slow in some parts and blew a tire but made it to the campground. Why the first Nation didn't make paving the road as part of their treaty settlement is beyond me. Bamfield is a jewel on the island and it could be a real destination.

How is Flora Lake Main? I have never done it but it looks like it could shave off twenty minutes on the way there.

[Mike K.]

It’s been years since I drove any considerable distance down Flora so I can’t speak to its condition but it’s a well design route, easy to navigate and tends to have much less traffic so the condition tends to be better, but a rough winter can rapidly change that and if it’s not being used for logging work it’ll remain in a bad condition through summer.

That being said, I would NOT recommend travel on those roads in a sedan. So much can go wrong so quickly that if you’re not a well seasoned backroad driver and navigator you could end up in real trouble. Not only can your tires end up shredded, you might even break your steering components if not the axle. Those roads can be unforgiving and heading out onto rough terrain in a vehicle built for pavement is generally not a good idea. I mean what if you pop two tires? What if you bottom out and rupture a brake line? What if the axle snaps and you’re literally stuck with no cell phone service and no vehicles passing by for many hours?

If you do decide to go for it, travel with at least one other vehicle and make sure your route is identified ahead of time and left with someone back in town. It’s easy to get lost out there and night can come quickly when you’re in the shadow of mountains. You might also encounter varied weather conditions as you near the coast and a nice sunny drive could suddenly turn onto a muddy slog.

I’ve been driving those roads for 20 years. They’re an amazing adventure each and every time, but a 4x4 vehicle with proper 6-8-10-ply tires is highly, highly recommended, as is a copy of the latest backroads map book.

[rjag]

I’ve been driving those roads for 20 years now. They’re an amazing adventure each and every time, but a 4x4 vehicle with proper 6-8-10-ply tires is highly, highly recommended.

 

So....you're saying I cant drive my toy down there?

[Mike K.]

Funny thing! I’ve seen guys driving all sorts of things along those roads, even expensive sports cars.

Some people end up beyond Cowichan Lake having missed a turn off for a campground or a logging road where folks were partying, and they end up miles into the bush worried and disoriented. I’ve come across lots of folks who were so far from their destination that they couldn’t believe it when I told them they had 20km to slog through just to get back to where they needed to turn off the logging main and figure out their way. Add night to that scenario and it’s downright intimidating.

[Mike K.]

Oh, and here’s another thing. From now through mid-spring those roads can suddenly be shrouded by thick fog, especially by night!

I once got rained out of Frederick Lake near Bamfield in late September. It started raining so hard that we gave in and decided to drive back to civilization that night rather than deal with soggy ‘everything’ the next morning, and likely deal with poor road conditions the next day.

Anyways, about 20 minutes into the drive at about 1030PM such thick fog materialized that I couldn’t go faster than 20km/h. The worst thing was that I couldn’t stop because it was too dangerous (vehicles wouldn’t see me until right upon me, even with lights on) and I was concerned some of the side roads we passed could get us stuck. So I continued on, and there were several moments that I thought I had ended up on the wrong road and was miles from where I should have been. It wasn’t until I began descending towards Port Alberni that I finally recognized some aspects of the road that convinced me I was on the right track. It was harrowing, actually.

[G-Man]

The new public space near the Johnson Street Bridge is a disaster in my opinion. Read why I think so here:https://www.sidewalk...ss-public-space

Also as a bonus why the Downtown Residents Association is completely wrong about public space.

[DustMagnet]

Typo? "...have sat vacant and following apart for decades"

[G-Man]

Thank you!!

[Bingo]

Typo? "...have sat vacant and following apart for decades"

 

Also...  "the removal of the old road access to and from the the previous bridge".

[G-Man]

Got it. Thanks guys. I am just home from vacation to the east coast and I think the time change is impacting my editing skills. Appreciate it! 😀

[Baro]

Public space design and the amount of it that's needed is a fairly well defined science at this point,  there's zero excuse to keep getting it wrong.  There's just too much institutional and political/cultural inertia behind "more open space = good" I guess...