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Wayfinding infrastructure expands in Oak Bay

Existing signs should be utilized says former councillor
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Former Oak Bay councillor John Herbert hopes that ‘unique’ signage inspired by the Swiss Alps will get some consideration as tourism branding identifies wayfinding as an issue in the community.

Former councillor John Herbert hopes existing wayfinding signs could be incorporated into plans to make Oak Bay more easily travelled.

He worked on the campaign nearly a decade ago to make streets more walkable by installing signs inspired by his trips to the Swiss Alps.

They provide arrows and approximate walking times to show pedestrians where they might like to visit from certain points. A volunteer from Monterey Recreation created approximate walking times, for example from Oak Bay Avenue near municipal hall to Willows Beach, or the shorter trip to Monterey.

“There was a huge amount of effort … They kind of just got ignored,” said Herbert. “Why don’t we remind people, before these all disappear.”

While there seem to be fewer than he remembers, and some are bent to misdirect walkers, he feels they’re unique and should be utilized rather than discarded.

“The purpose of this was twofold, it was a unique feature … the second thing was to identify where are the places I can go and how long will it take me to get there?” he said.

They’re mentioned in the Oak Bay Active Transportation Study developed with Boulevard Transportation Group in September 2011: “Oak Bay has a series of existing pedestrian wayfinding signs that are yellow-black and provide direction and distance information to important community destinations … the district should continue using the yellow-black pedestrian wayfinding signs currently in use.”

A new design is in place in Oak Bay for directional signs in a project started about three years ago, said Dave Marshall, Oak Bay’s director of engineering.

District staff worked with the CRD and City of Victoria to come up with a regional motif that would make sense for cross-border wayfinding signs. The CRD even funded $8,500 toward the process of design, manufacture and recent installation of signs on Haultain Street.

“The idea is they would expand out to cover a broader area over time,” Marshall said. “The look and feel of the signs has been all hammered out so it would be just a matter of expanding.”

 

cvanreeuwyk@oak baynews.com