Roadworks under the Quadra McKenzie Plan:
• A major part of the Quadra McKenzie Plan has included the possible redesign and widening of both Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue.
• The Plan includes the implementation of ‘Complete Streets’ on the two main thoroughfares, to include all means of transport: bicycle lanes, transit lanes, a vehicle lane, and widened pedestrian pathways buffered by tree planting. In theory, this may sound good, until the reality of implementation is considered: Major property acquisition along both roads would be required, while vehicle lanes would be reduced to one lane in both directions. (See photograph and illustration below).
• From a usability view, the Plan’s hoped-for transit lanes (called “aspirational” by one Saanich planner) – on which much of the Plan’s building density along the “corridors” relies – would reduce vehicle travel (cars, trucks, delivery vehicles) to one lane. The reality of this reduction has been roundly derided by drivers, saying this step would create traffic chaos and back-ups longer than are experienced now.
• The Plan’s new proposed building density along both Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue would be “Mid-Rise buildings 5 to 11 storeys” (Saanich definition: p133 Quadra McKenzie Plan) (See maps on our Quadra McKenzie Plan page).
• However, at Planned “Hubs” (at the to-be-introduced-sometime-in-the-future ‘RapidBus stops’ every 800m along both roads), the buildings would be “High-Rise 12 to 18 storeys”. Development at these “Hubs” – with an 400m radius (1/4 mile) around each “Hub” – would have no control by Saanich as to height; density; setbacks; amenity provisions; etc., as these developments would fall under provincial controls for TOAs [Transit Oriented Areas].
• In effect, by placing these “Hubs” 800m apart, these control-free development areas would touch, leaving Saanich with no control over great swaths of its own municipality.
• This ‘Plan’ also ignores the current No. 6 bus that appears every 6 to 15 minutes on business days, stopping at every stop along Quadra Street, without need of a special bus lane or “Hubs“. (Even the Plan’s diagrams for Quadra Street (see below) ignore a Quadra Street bus Lane, begging the question as to why the increased development is predicated on TOAs (Transit Oriented Areas) or “Hubs“.)
Quadra Street Roadworks
Before and After implementation of the Plan:
Quadra Street today:
Under the Quadra McKenzie Plan, Quadra Street would have to be widened 6.9m (22 feet) on either side from the existing curbs as seen above, resulting in the loss of many trees, front gardens, rock outcrops, and the tree canopy of Garry oaks and fir trees (our already-existing “Urban Forest”).
Quadra Street as Proposed under the Quadra McKenzie Plan:
Note: Of the four “lanes” for traffic, only TWO are designated as “Drive Lanes”. One is designated for “Parking”; and one is Designated as a “Turn Lane” Traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction. (Measurements in metres.)
All single-family homes (owned or rented) along Quadra Street would be replaced by “Mid-Rise buildings” (5 to 11 storeys); with 12 to 18 storey buildings at TAOs (transit “Hubs”), spaced every 800m (every 1/2 mile).
The existing Garry oak tree canopy (Saanich’s “Urban Forest”), would be wiped out.
Quadra Street as we know it would cease to exist. The landscape would be gone, the trees would be gone, and the street could be anywhere in the country.
Is this where you want to live?
Save Our Saanich
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We acknowledge that the District of Saanich lies within the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum) and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) Nations.