During the first weeks in August, Tom and Jean Newton, two members of Walk On, Victoria, led public walks and conducted interviews with people walking along both sides of  Oak Bay Avenue between Foul Bay Road and just past Monterey.

The purpose of the walks and interviews was to gather information from participants about the most challenging sidewalk, curb and crosswalk barriers they experience while walking on Oak Bay Avenue. The majority of people who participated were older adults with mobility or vision challenges, though young parents pushing strollers and people of all ages walking their dogs were also interviewed.

The data Tom and Jean gathered was submitted in a report to Oak Bay Council, Oak Bay communication, planning and engineering staff, and the consultants Oak Bay hired in preparation for the Pedestrian and Sidewalk Master Plan the municipality intends to draft later this year. In this blog post, we’re sharing the report the Newtons provided to Oak Bay.

A copy of the report can be found here:

If others of you have led public walks or advocated with your municipal councils for better pedestrian infrastructure, we’d like to hear from you. Please email an account of your experiences to walkonvictoria@gmail.com