Saanich's streets aren't safe.
Our district is in crisis. We call on Saanich to take immediate, district-wide to prevent further deaths and injuries on our streets.
Stories from our streets
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I walk with my child (and my baby) to preschool daily. Today we were walking past Tillicum School on Maddock and started crossing Albina St on the marked crosswalk. A driver heading south rolled past the stop sign and through the crosswalk that we had already entered and then continued to turn right onto Maddock without stopping. In a school zone. During school drop off time.
We witness similar behaviour frequently. Often the drivers don’t even look to either side before ignoring the stop sign and entering the crosswalk.
LeanneDecember 9th, 2021 -
My Mother lives in a Seniors residence on Reynolds at Borden. Mom loves her wine, her Timmie's and her lottery tickets, but every trip to get those three items at the strip mall on Borden, is a trip that might be her last because of the treacherous conditions encountered on her journey.
Cars zipping by and ignoring the flashing lights at the crosswalk on Reynolds, no sidewalk for half of the block on the west side of Borden, no mid block crosswalk to take her from the east side of Borden over to the strip mall... this means that Mom, 91 years of age and using a walker, must go all the way down the hill to McKenzie, cross at McKenzie and then back up the hill to the stores... the return journey being the same.
Without that crosswalk in an area that has hundreds of kids from Reynolds crossing constantly from the parking lot, and without a sidewalk on the west side of Borden, Mom will often cross with her walker mid block because the journey down the hill is too much for her. Of course, Mom is more concerned about the harm that might come to one of the students than her own well being.
The other thing that Mom has noticed is that cars constantly blow through the stop sign at Borden and Reynolds, and that cars always travel too fast past that intersection. A three way stop is needed at that intersection and a 30kph speed limit along the entire length of Reynolds, not just at the park.
Desmond DemosthenesDecember 10th, 2021 -
There are multiple bike transit routes in which crossing over from Victoria and Esquimalt into Saanich is like exiting The Shire and entering infustructure Mordor. This has never made sense to me given the tax revenue resources Saanich has available. The absence of safe bike lanes or the placement of bike routes on highly conjested car traffic corridors is a signature Saanich staple. I have always noticed the lack of sidewalks in Saanich. So dangerous.
Adam FriesenDecember 10th, 2021 -
I love living in Saanich. We are the luckiest people in the CRD, if not BC, or even Canada. I moved here with my young family in 2007, after an exhaustive 10 year schooling in the US (we are Canadians). We chose to buy a house less than 300 meters from a lovely elementary school with the full intention of walking to school with our two young children (then 3 and 6) every single day, with the idea of instilling healthy environmental, personal wellbeing and independent values in our children.
The nightmare began the first week of walking our 6 year old to school. Our street has no sidewalk, no shoulders, a blind crested corner, and 150 houses that use the dead end street every day. We were run off the road that first week - by a CRD truck actually - I had to throw my 3 year old son into a bush and yank my 6 year old daughter out of the way of the truck that had crossed over into the shoulder right where we were walking. This was not the trucks fault entirely, as it was simply due to the fact that the road and corner were a throwback creation from the 1960's and zero maintenance or improvements had been done - in spite of having an elementary school so close to it.
My calls and emails to Saanich began almost immediately. Saanich has been responsive, lovely to deal with, sympathetic, and helpful within their limited abilities and budget constraints. I was able to have an asphalt curbing installed in 2008. This was tremendously helpful and I am grateful for that. The cars kept driving over the asphalt curbing because of the poor outdated road design. In 2009 I asked for traffic monitoring strips for data collection to assess traffic volume. The street has two beach accesses and several waterfront properties that are redeveloped every year adding construction traffic. Our house, on this dead end street sees increased traffic in the summer for beach access (currently the only dog accessible beach year round in Saanich and CRD), and about 20 dumptrucks per day from March to September for the construction. I requested the traffic monitoring strips in Spring of 2009 and they installed them to collect data in mid December 2009 (the least amount of traffic and least amount of pedestrian traffic). This still revealed 1000 autos per day in December of 2009. I estimate this to be approximately 2000 autos per day now, and Saanich police counters have confirmed this in recent years.
My 15 year battle for help had me joining community associations, transportation advisory committees, visiting Saanich hall, and participating in studies, namely the Safe Routes to School. I am very proud of all my fighting and advocating, for safety. When we moved onto our dead end street in 2007 we were the only young family but today there are over 20 children attending the elementary school. I see them walking their kids to school everyday. I drove way more than I wanted to simply because I felt vulnerable walking, and I never was able to let my kids walk home alone in their elementary school years.
My kids are now drivers. My worries now have turned to keeping them from having an accident due to poor road design! They listen to me go on about that pretty much daily :) They are good kid and would never intentionally drive unsafe, but I worry so much about all these poorly lit, outdated roadways in Saanich. My efforts (over a 15 year time period) paid off and our street and corner is earmarked for sidewalks and road improvements, under the Safe Routes to School program. It warms my heart that this is happening for the new families that have moved here and will move here. But it should never take this long. I would like to see an 'emergency' fund set up to address dangerous roadways and crossings. Nobody should have to fight this hard to keep pedestrians safe.
PS... I don't believe the solution is banning cars. That sentiment is just sticking your head in the sand. Cars here are being replaced by electric cars, which pose an even bigger problem as they are silent and distracting in the wrong hands.
Thanks for listening. XO
CandaceDecember 10th, 2021 -
We are new residents who feel unsafe walking and biking in our community. My partner drives 1.5 km to work because of the atrocious pedestrian experience of walking near Uptown and on Blanshard. I feel unsafe cycling to the grocery store in my own neighbourhood.
Engineering staff at Saanich tell us we can't have room for better sidewalks and bike lanes because we need to accommodate vehicle traffic, but so much of that vehicle traffic is because of their refusal to provide safe alternatives.
Saanich's 30 year plan is too long and we are done hearing councilors' and staff's excuse that "we are doing something at Shelbourne Valley". It is not enough, and it is time to hold the city accountable for these preventable deaths.
We want to feel safe walking in our neighbourhood by the time we have children in school, not by the time our children are retired.
December 10th, 2021 -
Our neighbourhood (Carey/Marigold), like so many other Saanich neighbourhoods, is sorely lacking sidewalks and crosswalks. Marigold Ave has seen a massive increase in traffic in the last 10 years, yet only has sidewalk on one side between Interurban and Carey, and not even a shoulder on the other. With a lack of crosswalks to get to those rare and limited sidewalks, there is no safe path to school for many children. Kids wait ages to cross Marigold during rush hours, and are seemingly invisible to drivers cutting through the neighbourhood. Long straight stretches on Carey, Marigold and Interurban lead to speeding, and would benefit from calming measure and reduced speed limits.
Jen E.December 10th, 2021 -
One unhappy story. Winter 2020, cycling toward #NorthQuadra, approaching McKenzie. And a car turned right while I was cycling straight. Luckily (ironically?) it was I that ended up hitting the car as he scooted ahead of me before turning. I fell off my seat, but remained on my feet straddling the bike. He was apologetic (as definitely in the wrong) but also, it was just too easy for him to make that mistake.
December 10th, 2021 -
I live in Victoria but I often run in Saanich. There are long distances to travel and drivers seem to treat all roads as if they are freeways. Thankfully there are sidewalks where I run but crossing in such conditions is dangerous. Gordon Head Road, Feltham, Cedar Hill Road and Mt. Doug X Road on one route and Burnside near Tillicum on the other.
I don’t know if there is a design problem but there is definitely a culture problem.
Daniel MildenbergerDecember 11th, 2021 -
In my neighbourhood, speed is the problem. Even though we have sidewalks and wide roads, the drivers think they can speed at will and the Mayor and police seem to think this is acceptable. Better sidewalks etc will help but it also supports speeders. Reduce speed limits and ENFORCE them.
AnonymousDecember 17th, 2021
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A driver in an SUV came within a foot of hitting my 6 year old in the crosswalk at Tillicum and Maddock in 2020. The driver failed to check the intersection before turning/could not see my child because of the size of their vehicle. I had to leap at their vehicle screaming to get them to stop.
December 9th, 2021 -
We don’t have sidewalks nor crosswalks. But plenty of traffic.
So to get to my local park I cross at a corner where traffic travels downhill at alarming speeds. (Tatersall). Once I spot a break in traffic I run across often holding my little dog - just in case - he isn’t visible at all by these cars nor would small children be seen.
Once on the other side, I have a sidewalk but walk right next to cars driving 60/70 km. That isn’t very safe or pleasant. There is no reason anyone is driving that fast. If there was a slower walker or small child they could easily be killed or quite likely they just choose not to walk at all.
One set of safety lights, a few bike/pedestrian lanes and some traffic calming could save lives.
I wrote to Saanich and was sent a pleasant but dismissive response about how the hill prevents them from adding these safety measures.
I live within blocks of the spot where a child was recently killed. The traffic is too much, too frequent and too fast. We need these safety measures to prioritize humans not cars.
JodyDecember 10th, 2021 -
It shocks me how unsafe it is with over 400 students getting to school. My child attends Tillicum Elementary and there is very little in the way of signs for being a school. I drive through other school zones and they have YELLOW NEON SIGNS, speed zone signs, speed counter reminding you, paint in GIANT LETTERS. On the road way. Every child matters and every school should have proper signs. Taking away parking for parents and threating tickets and towing also does not help. The amount of people that are speeding going 50 plus passed Tillicum Elementary on all 4 roads around the school is insane. Please help make our school safer for everyone.
AnonymousDecember 10th, 2021 -
I lived in Saanich for four years but decided to move to Victoria recently for a few reasons. Poor walkability and lack of safety and comfort walking and cycling on Saanich streets was reason #1. I had long wanted to live car-free but it was difficult to envision living happily without a car in Saanich so I moved to Victoria.
For three of those four years I lived on McKenzie between Quadra St and Saanich Rd. This was a 1970s condo building that devoted more surface space to car parking than it did to housing. The excellent Lochside Trail is nearby but how do I get there safely by bike? My only option was riding on the sidewalks of Quadra and McKenzie. Mixing into traffic with dump trucks, delivery trucks, and buses was terrifying yet I had no alternatives. I would attempt this occasionally when I felt brave but couldn't make it more than a block before pulling into the nearest curb cut and riding on the sidewalk again, surely irritating any pedestrians navigating the already narrow sidewalks. Why do pedestrians and cyclists need to fight for this narrow sliver of space when drivers get a near-monopoly on public space?
On the topic of sidewalks, Quadra and McKenzie were some of the only streets in the area that had sidewalks. Saanich Rd had a section of roadway with a small lump of asphalt on one side of the street separating pedestrians from traffic. The sidewalk on McKenzie was not even wide enough to walk side-by-side with a friend. My roommates and I would walk nearly single file if we walked together to the bus stop or to Thrifty Foods and we were just 2-3 feet from heavy traffic filled with buses, delivery trucks and other multi-ton vehicles. Walking in my neighbourhood was so unpleasant and unsafe that I often drove 1.5 blocks to get pizza at Panago or get lunch at Subway. Now living on Vancouver St in Victoria, I am delighted to walk more than 15 blocks to get something to eat. Walking to Thrifty Foods was a chore despite being half a block away. Did I want to subject myself to the noise, the fumes, and the stressful crossing at Quadra and McKenzie, then walk through the messy parking lot at Saanich Plaza that does not have pedestrian crossings to get to the grocery store?
At this time, I was studying at UVic. I was learning how to use the bus, but wanted to try biking to school. Because of the convoluted network of cul-de-sacs and discontinuous streets, I had two options: McKenzie or Cedar Hill X Road. McKenzie was stressful. Painted bike lanes on busy streets, buffered or not, are not safe or comfortable. The entire trip was always filled with anxiety and I was breathing in toxins every day.
I thought I would try the alternative: Cedar Hill X Rd. I used this route twice. The first try was stressful as there is no dedicated space for cyclists and the road edge in which you are expected to cycle is in disrepair in many spots. The second try turned me off entirely as a woman fingered me and aggressively honked at me as I was a cyclist trying my best to adhere to auto-centric laws on an auto-centric street and could not maintain the speed of everyone around me. I felt like garbage. I felt like people operating 3+ ton machines capable of ending my life were angry that I would dare use their space and delay them a mere 5 seconds. It has been 3 years and I have not yet since cycled on Cedar Hill X Rd.
On road safety, Saanich is doing good things. It is just doing good things at a slow pace not in keeping with their vast road network. Sidewalks are a rarity in Saanich and at our current rate of new sidewalk construction, I will be dead before Saanich becomes a truly walkable community. I am 27 years old.
I need to also vent my frustration with the discordance between the Saanich Active Transportation Plan's proposed AAA cycling network and the implementation of Saanich's new cycling infrastructure. The plan was adopted in 2018 and the proposed AAA network is excellent. However, since this plan was adopted, several new routes which were included in the 2018 plan have been constructed yet they don't meet the accepted design guidelines for AAA infrastructure. New bike routes have been constructed on Cook, Tillicum, Feltham, north Shelbourne (soon to be finished), Edgelow, Larchwood, Lansdowne, and more. While these are improvements, none of these actually meet accepted AAA guidelines. Paint is not enough. AAA routes need to meet the accepted design standards. Otherwise, stop throwing the term around as if it's meaningless.
AAA is either: -Bicycle lanes separated from vehicle traffic by a physical barrier such as concrete -Bicycle paths independent from the road network (i.e. Galloping Goose, Lochside Trail, Dallas Rd Bike Path) -Shared traffic-calmed 30km/hr street with fewer than 1000 cars/day (ideally fewer than 500).
Painted bike lanes on Feltham are not AAA. Paint on Shelbourne is not AAA. Paint on Edgelow is not AAA.
I just want to get around Greater Victoria without stress, fear, discomfort, and inconvenience.
Brandon
December 10th, 2021 -
Two years ago I was hit by a driver while cycling in a painted bike lane. I was wearing a helmet, reflective clothing and had lights on my bike, but somehow they didn't see me, or cared to look. They fled the scene and I am just wrapping up my hit and run claim today. Painted lines are NOT safe and will not prevent drivers from hurting or killing people.
Last week I was out jogging in a high vis vest, reflective top, and a headlamp and a driver stopped at side street didn’t see me because he was texting. I tried to make eye contact but he wasn’t looking up. He started to go before looking and nearly hit me as I was crossing. All the high vis, paint, and campaigns in the world won’t work if drivers refuse to look for us.
Lower speed limits, ENFORCEMENT, and proper separated bike lanes are the only way.
Sarah FariaDecember 10th, 2021 -
My bicycle commute to work takes me along Interurban rd. The bike lanes that run past Alan Rd in the northbound and southbound directions are most often than not filled with debris that is very dangerous to cycle on without crashing. Loose sand, gravel and bark mulch in the summer, and deep mud and gravel in the winter. To avoid the worst of it you need to move out of the bike lane and join faster moving motor traffic, which is also scary and dangerous. This has been an ongoing problem beyond my own 5+years of regular commuting along it. I understand that the Gravel yard owned by McNutts and the constant movement of loaded dump trucks along Interurban rd is the cause, I am also aware Saanich is aware of the issue. I'm just dissapointed there has not been a solution.
David LaceyDecember 10th, 2021 -
Pear Street between Shelbourne and Cedar Hill Road. The absence of any sidewalks or street calming infrastructure on this street is appalling. It’s frequently used by kids going to/from Doncaster and people walking to/from amenities/services/transit on Shelbourne. Cars use this street like it’s a highway and pedestrians have no place to go. :(
AnonymousDecember 10th, 2021 -
I live a couple of blocks from the intersection of Cook/Quadra/Cloverdale. There is a crosswalk at Linden and Cook that has a pedestrian-controlled traffic light that turns green to red when pushed. Just in the past couple of weeks I have seen several drivers either go right through the light without slowing or stopping, or, if they actually stopped then once the pedestrian has crossed the drivers proceed through the light even though it's red. I worry every time my partner goes out in the dark to Thriftys to pick something up because I do not trust drivers to drive safely and respect crosswalks. This is only one story of dangerous driving I have witnessed on this part of Cook St.
NikkiDecember 13th, 2021 -
I support safersaanich in collecting this data on near misses and dangerous situations on Saanich roads. I work with Livable Roads for Rural Saanich, which continues its five years of work towards making our rural roads more safe and comfortable for users outside of vehicles. You can see and use the Incident Report Form for rural incidents at our website lrrs.org. My personal comments are these: I live on a beautiful narrow rural road with no consistent shoulders, poor sight lines, rocky outcroppings, but a lot of traffic at speed. Sidewalks, crosswalks, advance lights are suitable interventions, nor would they be fiscally responsible or timely. Even well under the speed limit of 50 kph is too fast a speed when the vehicles, often large pickups and trucks, pass so close to you and rarely actually reduce speed for a pedestrian or cyclist. The road has become unpleasant, uncomfortable and dangerous to walk or ride on. Relatively few accident and fatality statistics do not equate to a safe and comfortable experience. Bullying behaviour such as close passing, honking, tailgating, noise and acceleration if we register any visible concern, yelling or giving us the finger is typical. Recreational speeding and night speeding are a pattern. These roads are used much less for Active Transportation than they could be. There are of course considerate drivers, but they are not the ones that put us at risk. Speed reduction and traffic calming are essential. Pilot programs and quick builds must be undertaken. Methods of effective enforcement must be found. It has not escaped my attention that flurries of action occur after very serious injuries or fatalities. This is not good enough.
Pam HarrisonDecember 18th, 2021
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Last month while cycling on Darwin right next to municipal hall, a speeding motorist decided to pass me on a section at the crest of the hill while another cyclist was approaching in the oncoming lane. Both me, and the other cyclist waved our arms, trying to alert the driver to our presence hoping they might hold back. The driver fully entered the oncoming lane, narrowly striking the oncoming cyclist.
Moments later, at the stop sign, the driver was already waiting with their window down, as needlessly threatening the lives of two people was not quite enough. "When you pay insurance you can ride in the middle of the damn road" "People like you deserve to be hit".
The entire incident was caught on video and reported to Saanich PD yet weeks have gone by and Saanich has not yet pursued issuing a ticket to the driver. It's no surprise some drivers feel emboldened to recklessly endanger lives and spew hate speech when police are seemingly unwilling, or unable to respond with actual charges. The design of our streets also plays a big part in toxic driver behavior. Saanich roads cater almost exclusively to cars so to some drivers, every other road user is an inconvenience, and undeserving of basic dignity and respect, especially during the 3-6pm witching hours when drivers race through our communities, treating them like a transportation gutter and nothing else.
December 9th, 2021 -
I had to jump out of the way of a car making a left off of Harriet on to Gorge when I had the walk signal - thankfully I was trying to make eye contact with the driver as they made their turn, confirming that they never saw me.
Walking on the other side of Harriet crossing Burnside on my way to Rudd park, I cross two lanes when I notice a car out the corner of my eye coming from my right. Driver did not stop for the red light, I didn’t have time to react other than to close my eyes and luckily the car missed me.
Now I live on Stockton crescent and try to go for walks with my daughter. There are no sidewalks on our street, there’s a busy construction site right across my street so we must be vigilant, keeping our eyes open for work trucks. Then if we head onto Mortimer towards Cedar Hill we have dangerously fast cars trying to cut through from Shelbourne to Cedar Hill, parking allowed on either side of the road AND now sidewalks u tip we get to Cedar Hill. Cars turn quickly off of Cedar Hill because they’ve been waiting for minutes during rush hour and almost never see us on the other side of traffic. It’s horrible and frightening.
Greg TeulingDecember 9th, 2021 -
Myself, and my neighbours, are regularly bullied by drivers on Prospect Lake Road. This happens when cycling and driving.
Aggressive drivers will pass when they cannot see what is ahead because of the curvy/hilly nature of the road. This is stressful enough as a driver but especially stressful as a vulnerable road user because we’ve all had multiple close calls when the driver realizes there is an approaching vehicle and pulls back over, nearly hitting the cyclist.
Even if you put your arm out and clearly signal “don’t pass”, that doesn’t always stop them and seems to make them more aggressive. I can’t count how many almost head-on collisions I’ve witnessed due to this.
On multiple public engagements with Saanich I have raised this issue but the only thing that’s happened is yellow “single file” signs went up and then I was told it is not enforceable if a driver passes.
The latest terrifying incident in my neighbourhood (a neighbour was nearly hit by a truck and trailer that passed unsafely) has made that person consider giving up cycling for transportation and return to driving. We need more people using active transportation, not fewer.
Sarah FrumentoDecember 10th, 2021 -
From Carey Rd to Highway 1 on either side of Tillicum, none of the residential streets have sidewalks, especially walking to the school. People are cutting though side streets going 80 trying to bypass traffic. I've lost count of the number of times my family have almost been hit by car in broad daylight let alone at night. The street lights are seriously lacking coverage, there are whole blocks that are drowning in darkness.
AnonymousDecember 10th, 2021 -
My family (and a few families like mine) need to bike from Oaklands or Hillside-Quadra to Beausoleil School and home again everyday. Beausoleil is located on Braefoot Elementary School property for the next few years.
There is no route through Saanich that feels safe so we are driving and using a bus service. It would be much safer and better for the environment if we could go by bike and use the Cedar Hill Golf Course trails to avoid the high traffic streets.
AnonymousDecember 10th, 2021 -
I felt so unsafe biking and traveling from Cedar Hill Cross Road area to downtown everyday, my family and I moved to Victoria. We would have stayed in Saanich if the transportation corridor was safer and calmer.
AnonymousDecember 10th, 2021 -
I have nearly endless stories. I guess that's what happens when you live near a major intersection - Shelbourne & Mckenzie. The construction has made things worse than usual, but it was never great.
I live on the east side of Shelbourne & Garnet and normally shop at Thrifty's - just 2 intersections (1 block) away. It's on the same side of the street so I only have 2 crossings each way.
A few weeks ago, on my way home from a grocery run, I was crossing with the pedestrian light. The traffic on my side was stopped, with no one trying to take a right. I was watching the traffic on Shelbourne heading north because there's often a couple of vehicles that will take that right without stopping, some don't even slow down very much. I was just starting to cross into the other lane when a dump truck with a trailer ran the red light on Mckenzie. It came within 3 feet of hitting me at 60+km/hour.
Safety campaigns usually focus on telling pedestrians "be visible - wear lights, wear light-coloured clothes, look both ways, make eye contact with drivers". They don't spend the same effort reminding drivers to slow down - drive to the conditions or the speed limit, stop when turning right, stop at stop signs instead of either past them or just rolling through them.
I'd love to see both red-light and speed cameras implemented to help address these types of problems.
AngelaDecember 10th, 2021 -
I've had near misses while walking at nearly every intersection on Tillicum Road between Gorge Bridge and Burnside. The sidewalks are inadequate, crosswalks poorly marked, lack safe harbours at either end and cross too many lanes for mobility challenged people to cross safely. Saanich Council passed a motion on 11 October directly Staff to come up with some pilot projects to ramp up the roll out of the Active Transportation Plan but Engineering has yet to give any sign of having read the memo. I walk more carefully now but still feel unsafe anywhere along Tillicum. I note that Saanich has traffic engineers but no bike or pedestrian safety engineers. Small wonder we continue to focus on maintaining speed and flow of vehicle traffic to the detriment of walkability and cycling safety.
Phil LancasterDecember 16th, 2021