Active transportation priorities for Oak Bay

On Monday, November 19th (2012) the Active Transportation Advisory Committee (http://oakbay.ca/municipal-hall/committees/active-transportation-advisory-committee) recommended four priority active transportation projects to Oak Bay Municipal Council.  The priority projects are consistent with recommendations from previous seminal reports -  the CRD Pedestrian and Cycling Master Plan (2011), the Active Transportation Strategy Report completed for Oak Bay in 2011, and the Accessibility Committee Report on Oak Bay Ave. They are entirely consistent with the Complete Streets Policy adopted by Oak Bay Council earlier this year.

All four projects meet the following criteria established by the Committee: 

• Can take advantage of external funding
• Maximum impact
• Support regional priorities
• Urgent and feasible

The four projects - two that we considered strategic in the sense that they are large and require additional expertise and funding and two that we saw as operational in that they can be done with the existing resources and expertise are listed here:

Operational
Haultain East-West Connector
UVIC/Lansdowne North South Pathway

Strategic
Oak Bay Ave
Oak Bay High School Redevlopment

The full presentation that we made to Council can be found at this link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6mb3qm1mYxkbEhLUVhLRFNjWXM/edit

Members of the Active Transportation Advisory Committee were gratified by the overwhelming support Council demonstrated in their unanimous vote in support of the recommended priorities. Moreover, they followed up with five key motions directing staff to report back on feasibility/cost for all four projects. Oak Bay is off to a promising start! 

Secret Passageways of Oak Bay

Did you know there are a couple of dozen unmarked, mostly paved pathways throughout Oak Bay? These pathways link to destination areas such as Mt. Tolmie (3), Camosun College, UVic, the Uplands, beaches and neighbouring streets. 

Secrets of the city: Brighton passageway

Unlike the Oak Bay Trails map, which mainly suggests walking routes on typical streets, the Secret Passageways of Oak Bay are for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and other non-vehicular travelers looking for real trails and paths – ones that take you on rambles and shortcuts and provide additional views of our community. 

The passageways are located throughout Oak Bay—from the north Henderson area, the Uplands, Estevan area, around the Oak Bay High School and Rec Centres, and throughout south Oak Bay.   

But do they really need to be so secret? Some of these public accesses even look like private driveways. Do you support adding signage to mark these public passageways?

Know of any that we’ve missed? If you have photos of additional secret trails in Oak Bay, email activeoakbay@gmail.com and we’ll update the photo gallery.

- Lesley Ewing