This multi-faceted project, led by Island Pathways on Salt Spring Island, entails the delivery of cycling safety skills training, the distribution of free bicycle helmets and the installation of a speed reader board on Lower Ganges Road where a new and lower speed limit is in place.

Island Pathways is a volunteer-based non-profit society that has built many kilometers of separated, packed gravel multi-use pathways on Salt Spring Island and, with the help of partners, has advocated for lower speed limits, better road maintenance and wider shoulders, among other infrastructure-related improvements to the Island’s transportation network. Island Pathways has also coordinated GoByBikeBC and Walk&Wheel to School events for six years with these programs helping students to learn about pedestrian and bike safety.

This project uses grant funding to spearhead a multi-pronged approach to achieve safer walking and cycling in and around Salt Spring Elementary and Ganges including by implementing a speed reader board to reinforce the new speed limit for the Lower Ganges Road as drivers approach Rainbow Road from the northeast. The funding also provides bike safety and skills courses for all ages of cyclists, high quality and well-fitted helmets for children and delivers programming to young people to help them into the future, when they become drivers, to be more aware of their fellow citizens as pedestrians and cyclists. It is hoped that these deliverables, taken together, will help reduce traffic-related injuries and deaths on Salt Spring Island.

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Photo source: Pexels. Photo is shown for illustration purposes only and may not be an accurate representation of the project.