I read the article about the group (PUSH) lobbying for improvements to Sinclair Hill. As a matter of disclosure, Eric Dahli and I both serve on the board of the Cadboro Bay Residents Association. I live near the bottom of the hill, and I’ve been here 27 years. I disagree with some of the things stated in the article.
Sinclair was last paved in 1994 for the Commonwealth Games, to facilitate the bike races. Spot repairs have been made over the years. There is a sidewalk on the south side of Sinclair, from the university right down to Gyro Park. At the crest of the hill, yes, the sidewalk is sketchy. However, the real problem for pedestrians up there is that it’s steep; no amount of road work will help that.
On the north side of Sinclair near the top of the hill, Cadboro Heights is a bare land strata. The developer was required to build a sidewalk in front of the property as a condition of the development permit, and that is the only real sidewalk on the north side of the road west of the village. This bit of new sidewalk ends unceremoniously at the east edge of the development. From there down the hill to the village, there is only a muddy pathway, and a pedestrian must negotiate parked cars. Cadboro Heights owners having the option of crossing to the south side of Sinclair, but that is extremely dangerous.
Some years back Saanich produced a plan to improve McKenzie/Sinclair Road from Shelbourne right into Gyro Park. This project is now complete from McKenzie to the traffic circle at Finnerty. Phase 4, which covers the stretch of Sinclair from Finnerty to Gyro Park, was to begin in (I think) 2013. The work has now been put on indefinite hold in favour of the Shelbourne corridor upgrade from Hillside to McKenzie. This has been explained to us by Saanich. It is simply a matter of money.
When Phase 4 was still in the works, plans, including a road profile, were presented at the university. I examined them carefully. The project envisioned sidewalks on both sides of Sinclair Hill, bike lanes, curbs and parking bulbs. Phase 4 is a massive, immensely expensive undertaking, which I, personally and speaking only for myself, oppose. I have stated on several occasions, and I believe, that the best way to provide relief for the owners of Cadboro Heights strata, whose dilemma I wholeheartedly understand, is to lobby for a black top sidewalk down the hill on the north side, to provide a clean, hard, safe surface for pedestrians to go to and from the strata, as well as from the other houses on the north side of Sinclair.
Over the years I have witnessed accidents. Three were skateboards, and one was a bicyclist rear-ending a truck turning left on Hobbs.
Sinclair is busy at certain times of day, but at night traffic vanishes. I have, from time to time, lain in bed at 4 a.m. with my eye on the clock and watched 30 minutes pass without a car going by. The only time traffic backs up as far as my house from the stop sign at Cadboro Bay Road, 150 feet away, is when there is an event in Gyro in the summer.
I like Sinclair the way it is, and I am not convinced that, aside from the issue of a sidewalk on the north side, Sinclair Hill is more dangerous than any other hill. It’s a hill, folks, conduct yourselves accordingly. More to the point, I don’t want tens of millions of our taxpayer dollars spent here. I don’t want the years of dust, noise and inconvenience while construction proceeds. There are pressing issues elsewhere. Build social housing, fix Gyro Park, anything. Leave us alone.
Jerry Donaldson
Saanich
