Rainbows & Raindrops from the community fair

At the Community Fair yesterday we put out two piece of bristol board, sticky notes and pens and then we asked people who came by to tell us about biking in Oak Bay, both what they loved and what they would like to see changed or disliked. We got some great feedback, as I have transcribed below:

Liked

• Healthier and environmentally better way to travel. Oak Bay is awesome for biking
• Riding along the waterfront (Dallas Rd.)
• Path along the water
• New bike lanes on Henderson
• love riding on Oak Bay’s quiet streets
• Part of Foul Bay Bike lane
• Slow traffic in Oak Bay
• Lanes
• Quiet bike lanes. Sidelanes and back alleys
• Bike lanes
• Roads that are generally quiet
• Bike lanes. Secure locking ???. beach dr & oak bay avenue
• Quiet streets for making long traverses across the community
• Fresh air and exercise
• New bike parking at municipal hall
• close to community, parking easy, fresh air, calories burned

Of course, life is not all roses. Sometimes there are thorns:

• Disrespect by cyclists and motorists for each other
• bicyclists who ride in the middle of the road instead of the cycle lane! 🙂
• cars parked on Beach Drive
• No road bike lane by Marina and Glenlyon
• Need more bike trails
• Roads where there is not enough room for bikes + car (McNeil Ave)
• Lack of bike trails and lanes
• Access to Galloping Goose from Oak Bay
• Cyclists who ignore the rules of the road
• Need bike lane on Foul Bay
• Oak Bay needs more bike lanes
• nervous of traffic
• Parking along Cedar Hill X Rd up to Uvic is very dangerous!
• Oak Bay needs more bike lane & bike racks
• Potholes
• traffic calming devices. potholes in street
• Not enough bike racks in the village!
• Cyclists who don’t follow the rules of the road. Cyclists who don’t have lights.
• Foul Bay & Oak Bay intersection
• not much bike parking on the avenue
• clear glass from bike lanes
• –> Please signal –> Wear helmets

Each line is a single note. Where possible I have tried to preserve the formatting/spelling/etc.

We also got a few comments about the pedestrian experience:

Liked

• For wheelchair: Good in the village, Foul Bay rather rough
• Safe, clean sidewalks that have been redone

Disliked:

• More attention to care of sidewalks on non-busy roads
• crosswalk at Brighton + Foul Bay to fit with the Brighton Ave Centennial path

Thanks again to Jill Croft and the whole OB Comm. Association for organizing the event, the OB Emergency Preparedness people for being so kind as to share their space and time and to Jane and David who came out and peopled the SCOB booth with me. Here’s looking forward to next years.