The plan for time-limited bus-and-bike lanes on Douglas Street is picking up speed, and could be fully in place by January.

“It is phase one, the first step to actually making a fundamental change to how we deliver public transit around here,” said Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, a member of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.

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New curbside bus-and-bike lanes — one going north and one south — will be in effect weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. for about nine blocks along Douglas Street, between Hillside Avenue and Herald Street. Parking will not be available during those hours.

Work on the $1.5-million project, funded by the commission, is set to start in November and be completed in January. Last year, the commission said it hoped to have bus-oriented curbside lanes on Douglas in place by this month, but members expressed satisfaction Tuesday with the time frame put forward.

To establish the special lanes, new lines will be painted on the road, signs will be added and curbs or other structures will be removed. Work will be curtailed during the holidays.

“We certainly heard from our business community,” Fortin told the commission. “Don’t mess around with December, that is when the big Christmas season is coming.”

John Luton, executive director of Capital Bike and Walk, called the plan “a good start” and said it’s a model that has worked in other cities, including Vancouver.

“With this shared-lane concept, it’s probably going to reduce the conflicts with [the buses] having to cross over the bike lane,” he said.

Business groups such as the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce have expressed support for the project.

“It maintains two lanes of traffic, both in and out, and allows for a bus lane at peak hours,” said Chamber CEO Bruce Carter. “And parking is maintained during the business hours, so it meets the criteria we were talking about.

“This is the probably the highest traffic portion of the corridor, and certainly an area where there is a lot of congestion.”

Fortin said the impact of the Douglas Street project will be far-reaching.

“By having the buses move faster, be more efficient, it allows us to move those service hours and those buses elsewhere in the system. So not only is the impact going to be on the commuter in the Douglas Street corridor, but it’s going to have an impact for students going up to UVic, for people moving around the Peninsula and an opportunity to move into the West Shore,” Fortin said.

“It is a gain for everyone.”

The northbound bus-and-bike lane will begin at the Hudson building (bound by Fisgard and Herald streets) and extend to Hillside Avenue, while the southbound lane will start just south of Hillside and have a terminus at the Hudson. The added lanes are expected to help cut the average bus trip on the corridor by four to five minutes.

“If you’re running 10-minute frequencies, you’re cutting your time in half, almost,” said B.C. Transit spokeswoman Meribeth Burton.

B.C. Transit runs about 35 to 80 buses per hour during peak hours south of Hillside.

The project is a modified version of one of three transit options put forward for the Douglas Street corridor. Victoria council came up with the alterations.

The next phases of the Douglas Street bus-and-bike lanes project would go from Hillside to Tolmie Avenue, and beyond. The latter phase would come under the authority of the Ministry of Transportation, and discussions are underway to allow similar work there.

Research is also being done into the possibility of having parking meters that can dispense both parking passes and bus tickets. The “next generation” of the city’s machines, at a cost of $11,000 per meter, could take on the task. Existing machines could be converted for $9,000 each.

jwbell@timescolonist.com

With a file from the Times Colonist's Bill Cleverley