The City of Victoria might be changing course on its Cook Street bike lane plans.
A staff report now recommends ditching Cook because of costly complications and instead building the bike lane on Vancouver Street.
One of the problems was traffic modeling that showed back-ups at some intersections necessitating an extra vehicle lane, which in turn would cause the loss of trees and pedestrian space.
"When we did the original plan it was basically drawing lines on a map and then when you get down to the detailed design you have to see 'do those lines fit in reality,'" says Mayor Lisa Helps.
"It's not going to be very sudden," says Helps. "We're going to spend between June and October consulting with residents along Vancouver Street to figure out how this can best work for everyone."
Helps wants people living along Vancouver to know that parking spaces shouldn't be lost, "overall there's going to be net new parking spots added. I know parking concerns are always there. The way staff are mapping out Vancouver it will actually add net new parking along the corridor rather than removing parking. So I think that's good news for everyone."
The staff report on the proposed route change will be discussed by councilors later this week.
This stretch is part of the larger network of protected cycling infrastructure being developed by the city, which includes the already completed Pandora Avenue bike lane and the soon to be completed Fort Street bike lane.