The City of Duncan plans to install protected bike lanes with concrete buffers along each side of Coronation Avenue.
The first phase of the project is proposed to run from Duncan Street, via Queens Road and Ypres Street, and along Coronation Avenue to the west side of the Trans-Canada Highway.
The city’s application to the BC Active Transportation Infrastructure Fund for a $500,000 grant for the first phase of the project has been successful, and the municipality will kick in $380,000 to help cover the full cost of the project.
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The designs for the bike lanes are currently being reviewed by staff and will be presented to council for its consideration at a committee of a whole meeting scheduled for March 20.
The installation of the bike lanes on Coronation Avenue has been identified as one of the highest priority active transportation projects in the city.
A report by Brian Murphy, Duncan’s director of public works and engineering, that was presented to council in November said the bike lanes will create a major east-west cycling corridor across sections of the city where no major east-west connection currently exists.
He said once built, the bike lanes will ensure cyclists of all ages and abilities can travel safely between the downtown core, through the Coronation neighbourhood, and to the commercial centre along the Trans-Canada Highway.
“Community input has indicated that a primary barrier to active transportation within the city is the lack of separated and protected bike lanes which leaves a perceived unsafe environment for most cyclists,” Murphy said.
“This concern was stated during public engagements for the 2014 Active Transportation Plan and during engagements for the current Transportation and Mobility Strategy planning process.”
Murphy said the plan is for the Coronation Avenue bike lanes project to eventually extend the full length of Coronation Avenue from downtown, across the TCH, and east to Trunk Road.
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He said the future phase would connect through the surrounding residential neighbourhoods so bike riders could then travel the full length of Coronation Avenue to the downtown core.
Murphy said the plan is for the project to be tendered after a traffic study, community consultation and engineering designs are completed.
“Construction must be completed by March, 2024, in accordance with the grant program’s criteria,” he said.
“We will not know if the project can proceed until the formal construction tendering process is complete.”
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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