19 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Special paint to improve pedestrian safety declared too expensive for Colwood

 

A 20-litre pail of photoluminescent paint costs $2,950 plus about $750 to ship from Montreal

 

https://www.timescol...colwood-7539806

 

 

A 20-litre pail of the paint, which absorbs energy even without direct sunlight and emits a green light visible up to 10 hours, costs $2,950 plus about $750 to ship from Montreal. By comparison, the city’s public works department bought road paint for $125 per 20 litre this year.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 September 2023 - 05:39 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The rainbow conundrum at UVic: Crosswalk refresh no simple paint job

UVic has said any repainting of the rainbow crosswalk will have to wait until it holds conversations with staff, faculty and students. It’s spending $24,000 on those consultations

https://www.timescol...int-job-7539753

 

 

Seems to me expensive paint jobs - on streets, where they wear quite fast - might not be the best place.  Why not put the gay flag on a building wall?

 

 

 

 

It’s spending $24,000 on those consultations

 

 

Are they going on a Tofino retreat to discuss?

 

 

 

 

It has spent two years and $24,000 in consultant fees, but the University of Victoria still hasn’t decided what it wants to do with its fading rainbow crosswalk.

University staff planned on giving the crosswalk, meant to celebrate the LGBTQ community, a fresh coat of paint in September 2020, five years after it was first painted.

 

__________________

 

About one in five students at UVic identify as non-heterosexual, with 3.4 per cent identifying as non-binary, a rate that’s three to four times higher than the Canadian average for those age 18-34, according to 2016 data from the National College Health Assessment Survey.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 September 2023 - 05:42 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Special paint to improve pedestrian safety declared too expensive for Colwood

 

A 20-litre pail of photoluminescent paint costs $2,950 plus about $750 to ship from Montreal

https://www.timescol...colwood-7539806

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...treal-1.6963921

 

Paint spill coats major Montreal highway in white, closing road for hours-long cleanup

 

 

The paint spilled across the eastbound lanes of the highway between Cavendish and Côte-Vertu boulevards, a Transports Québec spokesperson said. 

 

Vehicles drove through the spilled paint, their white tire tracks coating much of the highway and obscuring lane markers for hundreds of metres, according to images of the scene.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 September 2023 - 05:38 AM.

[Matt R.]

Looks like we’re getting some fresh lines today! It’s usually a boondoggle. One year they painted before they did patching and ended up covering up kilometres of fresh paint with patches. Most years there are a few spots that aren’t straight.

[Matt R.]

^ So far so good!  Coldstar truck was straddling the line, I think he thought the paint was still moist.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s a crosswalk, not a political statement

Re: “The rainbow conundrum at UVic,” Sept. 13.

 

Really? Two years and $24,000 in consultation fees to discuss the paint colours of a crosswalk?

 

This is just the very tip of the iceberg of expenditures on this “investment.” It does not even consider countless staff hours, university resources and intangible mental and emotional strain, and there’s a lot more to follow.

 

The university is nowhere near to making a decision. Compensation of $55 is being offered to the participants of a two-hour focus group meeting, and other special interest groups are wading in to the deliberations.

 

Oh, and then there’s the awaited artwork to consider …

 

Perhaps it’s time to stop making everything a political statement. What if a crosswalk is just a crosswalk?

 

Susan De Stephanis

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...rogress-7551579

[Victoria Watcher]

Lots of money wasted on a way to cross street

Re: “The rainbow conundrum at UVic,” Sept. 13.

 

I find it absolutely astonishing that UVic is going to spend $24,000 to hire a “skilled external consultative group” to look into the repainting of a rainbow crosswalk.

 

What a colossal waste of money. A focus group held to talk about the subject was cancelled due to low student registration — so now they’re going to offer a $55 gift card if you attend another focus group.

 

What a laugh! Did it not occur to anyone that they may participate in the group not because they are overly interested, but because they actually need the money?

 

I have absolutely no problem with the crosswalk, but I do have a problem with spending that amount of money for something that could be a simple repaint of what’s already there.

 

And after reading the article, I’ve also come to the conclusion that a huge amount of paid staff time has been spent on this, which is even more money spent. One more reason why university is so expensive.

 

Darlene McDonald

Courtenay

 

https://www.timescol...rogress-7551579

[Victoria Watcher]

Look both ways, help humanitarian relief

Re: “The rainbow conundrum at UVic,” Sept. 13.

 

The humanitarian disaster in Libya is relegated to page 8 while the “rainbow conundrum” at UVic is front page news.

 

This so-called conundrum is a shameful absurdity given what is happening in Morocco and Libya and Hawaii and other places in the world.

 

That staff and students at UVic who should be dedicating themselves to higher learning are instead spending their time and UVic’s money ­dumbing down the institution catering to the loud minority is ludicrous in the extreme.

 

Look both ways when crossing the street and send the money to humanitarian relief agencies.

 

P.G. (Phil) Leith

Victoria

 

https://www.timescol...rogress-7551579

[todd]

I like the coloured crosswalks the colours make me happy, but not to be a “Monday morning quarterback” they have just provided a canvas for “anti-rainbow folks”. Probably not a good idea to force them into an act like crossing a rainbow


“the road to hell is paved with the best intentions”

Edited by todd, 15 September 2023 - 08:10 AM.

[Nparker]

...“the road to hell is paved with the best intentions”

But at least that road now has politically motivated crosswalks. It's never been safer to cross!

[todd]

The rainbow conundrum at UVic: Crosswalk refresh no simple paint job
UVic has said any repainting of the rainbow crosswalk will have to wait until it holds conversations with staff, faculty and students. It’s spending $24,000 on those consultations
https://www.timescol...int-job-7539753

 
Seems to me expensive paint jobs - on streets, where they wear quite fast - might not be the best place.  Why not put the gay flag on a building wall?
 
 
Are they going on a Tofino retreat to discuss?
 
 

It has spent two years and $24,000 in consultant fees, but the University of Victoria still hasn’t decided what it wants to do with its fading rainbow crosswalk.
University staff planned on giving the crosswalk, meant to celebrate the LGBTQ community, a fresh coat of paint in September 2020, five years after it was first painted.
 
__________________
 
About one in five students at UVic identify as non-heterosexual, with 3.4 per cent identifying as non-binary, a rate that’s three to four times higher than the Canadian average for those age 18-34, according to 2016 data from the National College Health Assessment Survey.

“.. A focus group on Tuesday for LGBTQ staff and faculty to discuss the question of whether rainbow crosswalks make the campus safer was cancelled due to low registration.

LGBTQ students and recent alumni have been invited to a similar event on Thursday. Those attending have been offered a $55 Skip the Dishes gift card as compensation for the two-hour virtual event. A survey is also available for those who can’t make it... “

[Blair M.]

With the taxpayers of B.C. having provided around $250 million dollars in funding to UVIC in 2019/2020, it's legitimate for some of those B.C. taxpayers to inquire about how exactly their tax dollars are being spent once they're delivered into UVIC's coffers.

[todd]

Universities are at the forefront of knowledge.

[spanky123]

^^^ No doubt that for some people there is a financial disadvantage that prevents them from attending events but I would think that $55 for students is going to attract a lot of people who care less about the topic and just want $55 for doing homework or playing games on their phone for two hours while someone gabs in the background.

Edited by spanky123, 15 September 2023 - 12:33 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Crosswalk solutions for the University of Victoria

 

The crosswalk conundrum at UVic is indeed laughable but unfortunately not funny. Ridiculous would be more appropriate.

 

It is unfathomable that mature, educated professional individuals would spend so much money, time and energy on a bit of paint on the blacktop (oops, bad word) when funding is sadly lacking for more pressing issues.

 

Their motivation is of course honourable in that they want to make the students feel safe. But if that were indeed an effective means of dispelling their anxieties, real or imagined, they would only feel safe in the crosswalk and not elsewhere on the campus.

 

Thus, as Mister Jacobowski said in Me and the Colonel, there are always two possibilities.

 

In this case that would be to either paint the entire campus in rainbow colours or to paint a zebra crosswalk to the legal specifications of the Ministry of Transportation, which would at least provide some protection against the real hazard of vehicular traffic.

 

Forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.

 

Hans Rysdyk

Qualicum Beach

 

 

https://www.timescol...ant-fly-7578102

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 September 2023 - 04:47 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

‘I fear for my life’: Saanich pedestrians want notorious intersection fixed

 

Douglas Street intersection near the Uptown shopping centre has some residents feeling uneasy

 

 

 

The infamous intersection on Douglas Street at the Uptown shopping centre remains on the caution list of many residents because of close calls with drivers.

 

Saanich resident Nicole Frances says the intersection of Douglas and Saanich Road is a hazard for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

 

“It’s at least four times a week that I’m almost hit there,” said Frances. “I fear for my life every time I have to cross the Douglas intersection by Uptown mall.

 

https://www.vicnews....n-fixed-4448645

 

The people turning right onto Saanich Road never look to see if a pedestrian is crossing on the walk sign, and they take the turn without even stopping.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole Francis, read this:

 

You are doing it wrong! 

 

Do not enter the crosswalk until a car has stopped and you have made eye-contact with the driver.

 

The odd car might not stop for you, so be it.  Do not enter the crosswalk when ANY car is coming down the street and could choose that lane.  WAIT.

 

There, you are now safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The people turning right onto Saanich Road never look to see if a pedestrian is crossing on the walk sign, and they take the turn without even stopping.”

 

 

Well, they are not required to stop, it's just a yield sign for right-turning traffic.  Yes, they should stop for foot traffic wanting to use the crosswalk, but you cannot rely on it.  Just take a moment, wait, then proceed only when safe.  Do not step off that curb until you are 100% safe.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 September 2023 - 12:07 AM.

[Mike K.]

The street design there is awful. You're not at a 90 degree angle to Highway 1, you're at something like 70 degrees, making that turn a much sharper turn.

 

The municipality ought to buy that parcel and make a proper turn onto the highway. But that'll never, ever happen now. What they'll do is close the slip lane, and create a massive traffic back-up all the way to the northbound lanes of Blanshard.

 

The CoV recently removed the slip lane on Hillside onto Blanshard, northbound, for westbound Hillside traffic. Cars now back up to Fifth Street in that lane.

[JimV]

It’s a crosswalk, not a political statement

Re: “The rainbow conundrum at UVic,” Sept. 13.

 

Really? Two years and $24,000 in consultation fees to discuss the paint colours of a crosswalk?

 

Well, it’s important to get it right.  I don’t know how many times I’ve seen someone at the curb glancing anxiously around, hesitating to take a step, clearly worried that they might be unwelcome in the regular white crosswalk.  The distress is even greater if there’s no bylaw officer around to confirm that their gender is permitted to cross at this location.

 

Of course, even the rainbow crosswalks provide only a fraction of the inclusivity needed.  They give no visual signal of welcome to the other 70+ genders.  And we haven’t even begun to address the problem of safe, inclusive sidewalks.  

[Ismo07]

The street design there is awful. You're not at a 90 degree angle to Highway 1, you're at something like 70 degrees, making that turn a much sharper turn.

 

The municipality ought to buy that parcel and make a proper turn onto the highway. But that'll never, ever happen now. What they'll do is close the slip lane, and create a massive traffic back-up all the way to the northbound lanes of Blanshard.

 

The CoV recently removed the slip lane on Hillside onto Blanshard, northbound, for westbound Hillside traffic. Cars now back up to Fifth Street in that lane.

 

Saanich won't close that turn lane...

 

The picture in the article isn't the crosswalk she is talking about.  It's the one across from this where the angle is more like 120 and easy for vehicles to burn through...  But...

 

 

 

Nicole Francis, read this:

 

You are doing it wrong! 

 

Do not enter the crosswalk until a car has stopped and you have made eye-contact with the driver.

 

The odd car might not stop for you, so be it.  Do not enter the crosswalk when ANY car is coming down the street and could choose that lane.  WAIT.

 

There, you are now safe.

 

 

 

...this...

Edited by Ismo07, 26 September 2023 - 09:04 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Driver who killed Saanich teen fined $2,000, prohibited from driving for six months

 

Margarita Citron had pleaded guilty to careless driving under the Motor Vehicle Act

https://www.timescol...-months-7602121