The Downtown Victoria Business Association鈥檚 vision for Douglas Street might seem wildly unrealistic when seen through today鈥檚 eyes, but think of it as a catalyst for positive change for Victoria鈥檚 downtown core.
The 20-year plan was developed by City of Victoria staff, sa国际传媒 Transit and DVBA members and guided by a team from Cascadia Architects. It envisions Douglas Street between Hillside Avenue and Belleville Street evolving from a busy commuter street dominated by cars into a vibrant thoroughfare that is friendly to pedestrians and bicycles.
The plan would introduce elements such as dedicated centre-median transit, separated bike lanes, wider sidewalks and boulevards and canopy lighting at key intersections. It foresees scramble intersections where pedestrians can cross the street from all directions.
It suggests paving the Centennial Square green space to give it a stronger presence and allow for seating and space for vendors. Car traffic would be confined to one lane in each direction.
It would be a radical transformation for one of Victoria鈥檚 busiest streets, and hard to imagine under current circumstances. But the plan should not be dismissed. Even if it does not become the reality imagined by the DVBA and others involved in the project, it could be the impetus for improvement and a springboard for other ideas.
鈥淲e have been suffering from collective inertia when it comes to actually making change,鈥� says Fran Hobbis, who chairs the DVBA. 鈥淗ow and where do we even begin? I believe we needed to begin with a vision. Sometimes we just need a picture of what could be.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 a merely matter of adding a touch of colour to drab old Douglas, it鈥檚 a major makeover. It involves rerouting or reducing huge volumes of traffic. It means changes in infrastructure and, likely more difficult, changes in the commuting culture.
It鈥檚 a big picture painted with broad strokes, with few details. More information will be needed before it can be determined if and how far this vision should be pursued.
Making the downtown more attractive will bring in more people. Will there be something to hold them when they get there? Is trying to transform the street between Hillside and Belleville overly ambitious? Do the businesses along upper Douglas Street even want such changes?
Those are questions, not objections meant to dampen a dream. Blue-sky ideas are welcome, even necessary, if we are to grow and change for the better.
As the Serpent whispered to Eve in George Bernard Shaw鈥檚 play Back to Methuselah: 鈥淵ou see things; and you say 鈥榃hy?鈥� But I dream things that never were; and I say 鈥榃hy not?鈥欌��
The plan鈥檚 developers are not suggesting we leap right into implementing their vision, but see it starting with small steps, such as colourful markings in crosswalks and event-based changes, such as the Douglas Street car-free day on June 21.
The most successful dreams are those that can be wedded to practicality, but we should not become so bogged down in practicality that we forget to imagine how things might become.
