Bike lanes in Victoria; are they really needed? Truth be told I really don’t care much. No wait, I do, but not for the reason people think. Every time I go downtown to Victoria, I’m met with the exact same sight I’m met with every time I make the trip; endless traffic, idiotic pedestrians, and the odd bicyclist. Note how I said, “odd bicyclist”, that’s because I don’t see any, all I see is empty bike lanes, no matter what time I go down. Maybe it’s just me? Maybe it’s that all bicyclists have invisible paint on them to combat the idiotic drivers? Whatever the reason, I’ve never once seen the bike lanes used, and the fact that the Times Colonist is saying just one lane down Pandora is costing well over 3 million dollars? It’s absurd. More attention should be put towards the Colwood crawl, which is getting worse each passing day with the explosive growth that is Langford. I live all the way out in Sooke, and it takes me under two hours each morning to make it to the Lansdowne Camosun campus for my classes, whereas at night, after peak hours when I’ve got nowhere to be, takes me under 50 minutes to make it all the way home to Sooke. Why are we spending well over $3 million dollars for a few bike lanes in the city centre, when we should be focusing on the main arteries in and out of the damn city. I want to point out, I'm all for going green and bikers and whatnot, but from where I'm sitting, I don't see them getting used at all, so that makes them just a waste of money. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT DAMN BRIDGE.
After writing my article, part of me wanted to be more in favor of the bike lanes, but your piece points out all the reasons why I'm not. Truth be told I feel like if Lisa Helps had ever lived in Sooke and endured your commute, a lot more focus would be paid to the Colwood Crawl (although, is it Victoria's issue or Saanich's?). In terms of necessities for the Greater Victoria Area, bike lanes certainly should not be at the top of the list.
ReplyDeleteI think you make your argument very clear and strong. Your examples are well chosen and linked to your argument. However, downtown bike lanes are empty because I think most bikers are going other directions. That is, to UVic, Camosun, or schools around the town. Perhaps the bike lanes on Pandora are not the most frequently used ones and the city could have chosen to build the first lanes on other streets where the traffic is busiest for instance in the mornings.
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