Active Transportation Plan

So far we have heard from more than 700 community member representing a range of abilities and ages.

Feedback from the survey and engagement activities highlights the need to address traffic safety concerns; this will also increase active transportation user comfort and safety and thereby encourage more people to travel actively. Specifically, people asked us to look at residential streets and school zones and an increase in enforcement.

Other top priorities for residents included more sidewalks, continuity in crosswalks, separated bike routes, improving the linkages to regional trails, and a call for more focus on access to bus stops.

Several routes, including school routes, locations for crosswalks, intersections and bus stop shelters were frequently mentioned; you can read about these in the full report here. It will be presented to Council at the Council meeting on May 25, 2020.

We have now moved onto the next phase of the project and are working to identify and describe the opportunities to improve active transportation conditions and present a report to Council and the community. The draft Active Transportation Plan will be available in the Fall 2020. At that time, further community input will be sought to ensure community priorities are reflected in the plan and to gauge the level of resident support for the action items identified in the plan. Please stay tuned for future community engagement opportunities!

Thank you to everyone who's shared feedback to help us design Central Saanich's first Active Transportation Plan. We have heard from hundreds of people so far and had the largest response to an online survey we've ever had! A summary of what we heard will be published here next month.

On Saturday, September 14, 2019, a member of our Active Transportation Team was on hand at the Saanichton Village Design Plan open house to talk with residents and business owners about the village's transportation challenges and opportunities. To see all the boards at the event, and learn about other upcoming Saanichton Village Design Plan events, please see the project site.

We are rolling on the early stages of developing an Active Transportation Plan. Key to this work is recognizing we are a rural community with a limited tax base,and finding practical ways to support and encourage active and accessible transportation.

The team, which includes Urban Systems (architects of BC’s Active Transportation Design Guide), is currently collecting data and looking at existing trails, roads and opportunities. Beginning in early 2020 there will be many opportunities to share what your priorities are, and we’re eager to work with the community on this exciting project!