Construction begins this week on protected bike lanes on Fort Street that will connect a downtown corridor to Oak Bay.
The project will create 2.7 kilometres of protected bike lanes between Cook Street and Foul Bay Road, as well as new and upgraded crosswalks, updated traffic signals at six intersections, two new EV fast-charging stations on Fort and Yates streets, new trees, public seating and road paving to fill potholes.
Two-way protected bike lanes will be installed from Cook Street to the Fort and Yates streets intersection, where vehicle traffic travels one way. One-way protected lanes on either side of the two-way vehicle traffic will continue from that intersection to Foul Bay Road.
The project will include painted bike lanes on Foul Bay Road and an updated bicycle crossing at Goldsmith Street, just south of Fort on Foul Bay, to connect to the Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
Sarah Webb, the city’s manager of transportation, planning and development, called the project “transformational,” linking municipalities with infrastructure designed to be accessible and comfortable for all ages and abilities of cyclists. Fort Street connects to Cadboro Bay Road, a designated cycling corridor in Oak Bay.
“This is a really exciting project in terms of making a big difference for inter-municipal travel. We’re talking about commuters and residents, people going to this area and continuing east into the municipality of Oak Bay,” Webb said.
The route passes Central Middle School, which will receive a covered bike parking shelter to encourage year-round riding. “We are thrilled to have a safer way for our students, teachers and staff to get to the school,” principal Gillian Braun said in a statement.
It also passes Royal Jubilee Hospital, where many staff already cycle to work, and improvements will encourage more employees to ride and walk more often, said Dr. Michael Benusic, medical health officer at Island Health.
“From a population health perspective, re-designing streets to support active mobility provides health and safety benefits for decades to come,” he said in a statement.
Construction is expected to last 10 months, wrapping up early next year. The road will continue to be open and transit routes will be unaffected, but the city is advising travellers along this section of Fort Street to allow for extra time while construction is underway. There may be temporary parking restrictions along the route during construction.
Three routes are currently under construction in James Bay on Superior Street, Montreal Street and Government Street south.
Construction is expected to begin later this year on Gorge Road, followed eventually by Pandora Street east, which will complete the city’s planned 33-kilometre network of all ages and abilities cycling routes.
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