Transportation: a Regional Approach

James Bay Neighbourhood Association

An on-going feature on land use & planning - to alert, inform, and prompt community action - and to celebrate success!

The February 2014 James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA) meeting focused on transportation, safe streets, and development.

Victoria Harbour: Visioning

The City will be proceeding with a project titled "Inner Harbour Revitalization Opportunities." The phased project will involve public participation through an Ideas Forum and web-site. Review of the documents suggests that the project has begun with select property holders. A "Key Stakeholders" group was mentioned in the City presentation, but members were not identified. Transparency is also mentioned.

Project Charter for Inner Harbour (PDF)

Variance: Parliament Mews, 230 Menzies

The owner proposes to close in the lower breezeway, creating 400 sq ft of additional interior space. The variance is to relax the requirement for an additional parking space. New secured bike parking for staff will be placed on the south side of the complex near the Bank.

2014 Installation of Sidewalks - Montreal Street, Simcoe to Niagara:

Planners from the City returned to present their finalized design for the installation of sidewalks on Montreal Street, East side, between Simcoe and Niagara. A width of approximately three feet of boulevard will remain with a road standard width of 9.5m. Parking at the daycare will be parallel to the street.

Although there are some hydro poles to be considered, sidewalk alignment has been adjusted to accommodate the community garden. The pole near Simcoe/Montreal includes underground utilities, and numerous utilities on the pole itself, so it will not be moved at this time. Concerns regarding speed and increased cab traffic will be considered at a later date. A separate water service for the community garden is being installed. The project is scheduled to start during the third week of April, with completion in ten weeks.

Capital Park:

The build-out of the Victoria Accord in the Legislative Precinct Rezoning, to permit office use, and sub-division of South Block and Q-lot (to carve off the land to be retained by the Provincial Government vs the land to be sold for development) were considered by the City Planning and Land Use Standing Committee on Thursday, February 6. Also considered were amendments to the Victoria Accord - Legislative Master Development Agreement. The amendments were significant and detail the amenities and other obligations as they pertain to South Block and Q-lot. They are available here. (PDF)

The reports of the JBNA paper Legislative Precinct Renewal Survey (83 respondents) and e-survey (67 respondents) are available on the JBNA web-site: .

Michigan Street Garden

About 12 years ago, the Provincial Government loaned the space on Michigan Street to Lifecycles for use as a community garden. The loan, understood to be short-term, was established as a month-to-month tenancy in 2008. With the announcement of the build-out of South block in the fall, the JBNA Board identified potential alternate garden sites and discussed same with Councillor Chris Coleman who had been asked by the Mayor to work towards re-siting the garden. Councillor Coleman has since identified additional sites and all sites are being considered by the City. In January 2014, the JBNA arranged a meeting with Chris Coleman, Marg Gardiner and representatives of the Michigan Street Garden. The garden had not had an administrative structure (executive), which made communications difficult. The group has since met and formed a structure. The City has a Gardens Policy which guides the process of creating gardens.

Public Transportation Options: Island Transformations (ITO)

Spokespersons for Island Transformations presented their concept for a pubic rail transportation system on the Lower Island. In 2001 ITO commissioned an independent study to assess an integrated transportation system for the CRD. The favoured option (defined as LRT Plus) was ranked the highest because it provides the greatest range of overall benefits (accessibility, increased transit use, reduced vehicle use, improved quality of life, decreased air pollution, and support of regional development objectives).

Some of the favourable aspects discussed include: the availability of right-of-ways from the three rail services that served the Saanich Peninsula in the late 1800's, current technology which allows residential trolley vehicles to transform into rapid transit rail cars capable of up to 70 km/h for inter-urban routes, an inter-regional and local freight network integrated with air and ferry terminals, and the development of 'rails and trails' design concepts for areas such as our existing hiking/biking trails.

Acknowledged hurdles to be overcome include:

• the lack of national and provincial policies; there is no workable system for financing this sort of infrastructure right now. Governance is the big problem.
• success of LRT is based upon frequency of service. Expect to lose money until people realize there is no point in keeping cars for basic transportation needs.
• the largest emitter of CO2 in Victoria is the cruise ship industry, not vehicular traffic.
• development and use of lands adjacent to rail lines is more important than size of population in determining rail transit viability. There is no evidence that population alone determines viability.
• rights of ways along the Galloping Goose, Douglas Street, and the highway to the West Shore can be developed, although there will be engineering challenges.
• there is a need for dedicated public transit to the airport and ferry terminals. The new McTavish overpass is not provisioned for rail.
• getting 13 municipalities to share the costs fairly may be difficult with so many governments and transit organizations.

Although ITO has had some public response to the survey of James Bay residents published in the Beacon, they continue to seek resident advice. ITO is working towards a sustainable Vancouver Island, preparing now to be ready for the next pre-election development cycle.

Safe Streets:

On Tuesday, February 4th, Councillors Gudgeon and Isitt sponsored a second workshop on safe streets that included the 40kph initiative. Each neighbourhood was represented by its respective land use group. Three James Bay residents participated. Douglas Street between Superior and Dallas Road was recommended for a trial speed limit of 40 km/h. This street has the second highest level of speeders over 50 km/h in James Bay. Due to signage ­requirements, Douglas Street, with the park on one side, would be one of the easiest (lowest cost) to use for a pilot study. Speed limits and safety in James Bay was raised as a community concern at the February 2014 meeting; speedbumps and other traffic calming measures were discussed in some detail.

JBNA Board Renewal:

Two JBNA Board members will be stepping down at the AGM. If you are interested in serving in 2014/15 but want to know more about expectations, please contact Marg (250-360-0300) or Tom (250-516-8574).

Join Us:

The March 12^th general meeting will be held at James Bay New Horizons at 7pm.

The JBNA Annual General Meeting will be held on April 9^th. Although the start time has not yet been set, it is likely to be at 6 pm. The AGM will be followed by the regular monthly JBNA meeting (agenda to be announced).