Cyclists in North Saanich will soon have access to a significantly larger bicycle network after the municipality greenlit a new $1.5 million construction project.
North Saanich plans to create 1.7 km of paved road-shoulder bike lanes on West Saanich Road that will connect existing bike lanes on McTavish Road to paved cycling routes on Wain Road.
The bike network expansion is moving forward after the municipality completed public consultation and design in spring 2019, and is part of the District’s long term cycling network plan outlined in the Official Community Plan.
See also: Victoria will spend over $1.2 million more on bike lanes to complete the network by 2022
Funding for the $1.5 million project comes from the municipality’s Gas Tax Reserve and the provincial government.
North Saanich had previously allocated $1 million for the project through the Gas Tax Reserve for its 2019 budget, and was also awarded a $726,018 grant from the province’s BikeBC initiative.
See also: BC government to spend $5.2 million for new bike lanes and paths on Vancouver Island
Construction of the bike lanes is scheduled to begin later this summer and is expected to complete in summer 2020, with a majority of the project complete by May 31st of next year.
Preliminary renderings of the bike lanes are below:
