The Township of Esquimalt has been working for years to develop and implement a better active transport network and beginning soon, their vision will become a reality along the Tillicum Road and Lampson Street corridors.
Phase two of the township’s Active Transport Plan, which these improvements fall under, has been embraced and celebrated as well as contested and made controversy ever since it emerged in 2021.
Motorists don’t want to give up lanes they use for their daily commute while cyclists welcome the changes as currently, some fear for their lives while travelling on Lampson Street and Tillicum Road.
Now, the improvements and bike lanes have been greenlit by Esquimalt’s town council and the contract has been awarded. According to the municipality, the contractor is just finalizing their plan of attack and coordinating with the township before construction gets underway later this month.
The safety improvements that the Township of Esquimalt will be implementing are:
- Newly paved roadway along some sections of Tillicum Road, Colville Road and Lampson Street
- Improved lighting at intersections
- Better accessibility with new curb, gutter, sidewalk and ramps at various intersections
- Removal of on-street parking along Lampson Street between Esquimalt Road and Colville Road
- Removal of the traffic signal at Head Street and Old Esquimalt Road
- Signal and lighting upgrades at Lampson Street and Old Esquimalt Road
- New multi-use crosswalks in key areas along corridors with new bike lanes
- Changing Tillicum Road to one-lane traffic in either direction with a turning lane in the centre to make way for bike lanes between Craigflower Road and the Gorge Bridge
- Signal phasing and timing improvements at intersection of Tillicum Road and Craigflower Road
The new protected bike lanes that will be installed will be:
- Uni-directional bike lanes along Lampson Street from Esquimalt Road to Colville Road
- Bi-directional bike lanes along Lampson Street from Colville to Transfer street
- Uni-directional bike lane on west side of Transfer Street from Colville Road to Craigflower Road
- Uni-directional bike lanes along Tillicum Road from Craigflower to Gorge Bridge
“The public will start seeing construction activity on the corridor in late July or early August,” said Tara Zajac, Manager of Communications for the Township of Esquimalt.
“The contractor is keen to make the most of the summer weather so there will be significant construction underway in August.”
Once construction is underway, all traffic disruptions will be posted to the township’s website, social media accounts as well as the Esquimalt Alert app.
“It’s too early to say exactly what the closures will be since the work varies from surface changes to impacts on underground infrastructure,” Zajac told Victoria Buzz.
More details of what the new roadscape will look like when improvements have been completed can be found here.
