Business owners unhappy with the route for Esquimalt’s proposed east-west protected bike lanes are suggesting their own alternatives with less impact on parking for their customers.
Mark Eraut of Panago Pizza in Esquimalt Town Centre said one of the options Esquimalt is considering — a quick-build protected bike line on a section of Esquimalt Road that would take away all street-side parking between Lampson Road and Canteen Road — is a “huge issue” for area businesses and residents.
Eraut has been raising concerns at council meetings about the township’s proposed bike lanes on behalf of a group of 29 businesses on Esquimalt Road. The group is planning to unveil alternative east-west bike routes next week.
“We are not opposed to bike lanes. What we are opposed to is bike lanes that don’t make sense for the entire community,” said Eraut.
At this week’s council meeting, a number of business owners — including the operators of a hair salon, a herbal medicine shop and a mountain bike shop — said losing parking to the bike lanes could hurt their businesses.
Marty Clough of Marty’s Mountain Cycling told council he’d be foolish to oppose bike lanes as a person in the bicycle business, but his store needs customer vehicle parking.
Plans for protected bike lanes stretching the length of the municipal portion of Esquimalt Road have been formalized in Esquimalt’s active transportation plan since 2022.
However, Eraut proposed an alternative route that would loop below Esquimalt Road and run past Bullen Park and the Archie Browning Sports Centre instead of alongside the township’s primary east-west vehicle thoroughfare.
Eraut said he tried to work with the township’s engineering department earlier during the bike-lane-planning process but that “hasn’t been well received.”
Most cyclists don’t want to cycle busy roadways such as Esquimalt Road because of high levels of pollution caused by vehicular traffic, he said.
A pair of online surveys with a total of 738 respondents conducted by the township in 2021 showed the top barrier to cycling in Esquimalt was lack of comfortable cycling infrastructure on the municipality’s major roads.
In September, another online survey by the township asking respondents about bike lanes on the section of Esquimalt Road between Dominion Road and Joffre Street found 69 per cent said they would feel safer using a protected bike lane while cycling, walking, or using other forms of active transportation on that street.
However, a quarter of that survey’s participants also raised concerns about protected bike lanes on Esquimalt Road, citing issues around parking, traffic, bus access and municipal spending priorities.
Starting Thursday, Esquimalt is starting another online survey on east-west cycling infrastructure in the municipality, at engagingesquimalt.ca/esquimaltroad.
The survey will focus on the section of Esquimalt Road from Joffre Street to Canteen Road and ask whether respondents would prefer a protected bike lane on Esquimalt Road or an off-corridor route using traffic-calmed neighbourhood streets.
A potential third option proposed by the township is a quick-build protected bike lane on Fraser Street that would connect to parts of the Lyall Street bikeway.
As part of the public-engagement process, Esquimalt is hosting two open-house sessions at the Esquimalt Rec Centre at 527 Fraser St. on Nov. 28 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on Jan. 16 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., where project planners will be available to chat with members of the public about the proposed bike lanes.
