Victoria staff made a sudden change in consideration to the Cook Street bike lane this week.
For months council and staff have been discussing having a bike lane built on Cook Street to have a north-south connection in the network. A few days ago, staff said they no longer believe it would be the best location, according to councillor Geoff Young. Now they are pointing to Vancouver Street as a better option.
Young said he doesn’t feel there has been enough time for the public to weigh in on this change.
“Unfortunately the public really hasn’t had a chance to react to this new idea,” Young said. “What’s happened is a lot of people who had not talked to us because they understood the Cook Street choice are now seeing a new decision that they haven’t really had a chance to react to.”
Young said rather than focusing on just Vancouver Street, he would like more alternatives considered.
“I would like us to look at a whole range of options. I can understand there are some real problems with Cook Street in terms of width and intersection signaling,” Young said. “There are also problems with Vancouver, which is why it wasn’t selected in the first place. It’s hillier and it’s farther from where people want to go down at the southern end. What I’m suggesting is let’s look at all the options.”
One suggestion Young floated was a one-way pair on Vancouver and Cook Street.