Saanich needs new approach to road safety

Re: “Safety plan needs focus on walkable neighbourhoods, says advocate,” Feb. 24.

Saanich’s Road Safety Action Plan falls short by having an unreasonably long time frame (10 years), not proposing a budget, and having the vast majority of the “actions” focus on writing things rather than doing things.

The cornerstone of the Vision Zero approach is safe street design. That means adding infrastructure that makes serious injuries and fatalities less likely to occur, even if drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians make mistakes or break the rules.

Of the 31 actions in the plan, only five involve improving our infrastructure. The other “actions” are to write policy or to advocate to higher levels of government. This ratio should be reversed.

Despite this limited scope, the plan proposes a 10-year timeline. This is unacceptably long for an action plan whose primary goal is to reduce fatalities. Just like the Active Transportation Plan, this timeline should be halved.

Lastly, there is no proposed budget. Council should ask staff to report back on the total estimated cost of the capital projects proposed in the plan, and then direct staff to complete these projects on a reasonable timeline.

I’ve seen the results of Saanich’s “action plans” in my own neighbourhood.

We have had a “Tillicum-Burnside Action Plan” on the books since 2005, and in almost two decades the only real progress has been a quick-build bike lane on Tillicum.

Saanich has told us the funding mechanism is to wait for developers to pay for streetscape upgrades.

This is not a serious approach to road safety, and I hope council will take this new Road Safety Action Plan an as opportunity to change course.

Mauricio Curbelo Saanich