The City of Victoria ranked fifth in America’s 10 Best New Bikeways of 2018 list.
Its Fort Street bike lanes were honoured with the appointment for being “built with ultimate accessibility in mind, and includes signals to separate left-turning vehicles from bikes, ensuring safety in a busy downtown setting.”
We made the cut Victoria! #YYJ #YYJTraffic https://t.co/ytX3Pf0EoT
— City of Victoria (@CityOfVictoria) December 19, 2018
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The list adds that the lane altered the previous layout which was formerly in a car door zone. Being able to keep 95 per cent of Fort’s on-street parking and adding new sidewalks, audible pedestrian signals and seating were also named as key highlights of the decision.
Vancouver was also named, taking second place behind Seattle.
The City of Victoria also won a Climate and Energy Actions award for its All Ages and Abilities bike network in September. When it’s done, the grid of five lanes downtown will span 32 kilometres.
The Fort Street and Pandora Avenue lanes have faced both compliments and criticism from the public, including a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal complaint from the Canadian Federation of the Blind.
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