Have you tried to cycle across the Bay Street Bridge lately? Good luck.
It’s one of more than 475 cycling trouble spots in the capital region mapped on BikeMaps.org, the website and app that celebrates its first anniversary next month.
“The level of response we’ve been getting from the citizens of Victoria has been amazing,” said BikeMaps.org founder Trisalyn Nelson, the Lansdowne research chair of spatial sciences at the University of Victoria.
BikeMaps.org is a crowdsourcing tool that uses Mapquest maps to allow cyclists to track near-misses, bicycle thefts, collisions, construction activity, potholes and other potential pitfalls.
In its first 11 months, its users in Greater Victoria generated 590 data reports about hazards, vastly exceeding regional data available for cycling safety planning, Nelson said.
Key hot spots highlighted by local “bikemappers” include the Johnson Street Bridge, Lansdowne Road between Richmond Road and Foul Bay Road, and Quadra Street between Pandora Avenue and Courtney Street. Problem intersections include Fort Street and Foul Bay Road, Cook and Bay streets, and Harriet Road and the Trans-Canada Highway.
The McKenzie Avenue and Trans-Canada intersection, site of a planned interchange, is particularly problematic, Nelson said.
The cycling coalition and BikeMaps.org have also expressed concerns about where the Galloping Goose Regional Trail crosses McKenzie. Cycling incidents are routinely reported there.
“One thing that came out of BikeMaps.org is that the Goose is heavily used,” Nelson said. “It’s wonderful, but there are lots of issues where it intersects with the road network.”
Edward Pullman, president of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, said Bay Street is a top priority for bike lane improvements.
“There are few east-west connections, and your options are limited,” he said.
“I’d like to see a continuous bike lane from the start of Bay Street in Esquimalt to Cook Street. That would be big on the list, and so would [a protected bike lane] on Wharf Street, or Government.”
Victoria city council recently approved a two-way separated bike lane, the first of its kind in the city, on the north side of Pandora Avenue between Cook Street and the Johnson Street Bridge.
If successful, more protected bike lanes could be added within three years, Mayor Lisa Helps said.
BikeMaps.org collects information on an estimated 72 per cent of crashes and near-misses in Greater Victoria, and has information on about 20 per cent of hazards and eight per cent of thefts, Nelson said. By comparison, she said, it is estimated that official reports such as insurance claims include only 30 to 40 per cent of cycling crashes.
The Insurance Corp. of B.C. collects data on vehicle insurance claims that involve bicycles. It issued 140 cycling safety reports in the capital region in 2013, up from 119 in 2009. Figures for 2014 are not yet available.
This fall, BikeMaps.org will highlight five to 10 of the worst hot spots. The website and mobile apps will offer push notifications on incidents at these spots.
Since its launch less than a year ago, BikeMaps.org has spread around the world. Users from across Canada, the United States, Europe and beyond have used it to record data of value to local cyclists.
The people behind BikeMaps.org will celebrate with a birthday party, featuring cake and a presentation on results, at noon Tuesday, Oct. 6 in Victoria City Hall’s antechamber. The public is invited.
Worst areas for bicycle-vehicle crashes, according to ICBC
Data from the Insurance Corp. of B.C. include about 650 crashes involving bicycles and vehicles in the capital region between 2009 and 2013.
Twelve intersections had five or six incidents in that time:
• Blanshard Street and Tolmie Avenue
• Douglas and Finlayson streets
• Bay and Cook streets
• Caledonia Avenue and Chatham Street and Douglas Street
• Johnson and Pandora and Wharf streets
• Vancouver and Yates streets
• Feltham Road and Shelbourne Street
• Blenkinsop Road and McKenzie Avenue
• Borden Street and McKenzie Avenue
• Admirals Road and McKenzie Avenue and Trans-Canada Highway
• Blanshard Street and Cloverdale Avenue
• Blanshard Street and Tolmie Avenue
