Victoria street art could be a real traffic-stopper
Residents see if flower-power can slow vehicles
A group of Victoria neighbours and their children spent a Saturday afternoon painting large colourful flowers on Collinson Street.
Along with adding visual interest to the roadway, the public art project, measuring five by 10 metres, is meant to encourage drivers to slow down when passing through the neighbourhood, home to a number of families with young children.
The painting can be seen on Collinson Street on the block between Cook and Trutch streets.
“The art will serve as a visual cue for drivers that they are entering a residential neighbourhood with children,” said Dana Hutchings, one of the organizers.
“Cook Street is fast-paced and when drivers peel off down the road, they don’t realize there may be kids playing close by.”
The painting of road murals is becoming a popular activity, from Share-It Square in Portland, Oregon to neighbourhood murals in Halifax, Toronto, and Kingston, Ont. Grant Street in Victoria’s Fernwood neighbourhood has a mandala painted on it.
Collinson Street was blocked off between 1 and 6 p.m. to allow neighbours to paint a design by local artist Jenn Playford.
The neighbours received a My Great Neighbourhood Grant and approval from the City of Victoria for the project, as well as support from the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association and Pacific Paints, which supplied the paint.
“Everybody we have talked to has been excited to be part of the project,” said Michelle Mulder, another of the organizers.
“Although there were a number of hoops to jump, it was very easy to get the approvals once we explained what we wanted to do.”
The organizers have been given permission to touch up the mural annually for the next two years. While durable, the mural is not permanent. Unlike the paint typically used for marking lanes on roadways, the deck paint used is non-toxic — so that children can help with the mural’s creation — and can be easily removed by power washing.
A group of neighbours in Vic West are also planning to paint a road mural in their neighbourhood this summer.