Today, October 3, work began on Victoria’s first protected bike lane. The Pandora Avenue protected bike lane will be different from more traditional, painted bike lanes. Users of the will be separated from the road, cycling between parked cars and the sidewalk.
The project will also include raised medians, planters, reconfigured vehicle parking and bollards.
Construction will start in the 500 block of Pandora near Wharf Street and move east towards City Hall and ultimately end at Cook Street.
The City of Victoria has hired Brunnell Construction Ltd., for the project. When complete, there will be more than a kilometer of two-way, physically protected bike lanes with new traffic signals for bikes on Pandora Avenue.
Once the new Johnson Street Bridge project is completed, the two-way protected bike lane on Pandora Avenue will connect the Galloping Goose Trail to downtown.
The protected bike lanes along Pandora Avenue represent the first of five corridors of protected bike lanes, to be installed before the end of 2018.
Noticeable work along Pandora Avenue will include some tree removals and replanting, temporary bus stop relocations and reduced travel lanes along the corridor depending on the work taking place.
There will also be significant concrete work including new curbs, sidewalk medians and traffic islands construction. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2017 and there will be no construction taking place on the frontage of any retail businesses during the holiday season.
In conjunction with the bicycle facilities project, the City has identified Pandora Avenue from Government Street to Douglas Street for paving. The objective of the paving project is to improve the road surface condition prior to the new bicycle facilities being implemented.
Preparation for paving is scheduled to begin October 11, 2016 with final road paving tentatively scheduled for Sunday October 16, 2016.
For more information visit: www.victoria.ca/cycling
