You'd think that with green space on two corners it might encourage more pedestrians, but there is a lack of welcoming entrances to the park land, especially on the SE corner.

In all 4 directions from that intersection, there is a hostile walking environment. The bridge over the Gorge is a joke for walking and biking and is a serious impediment to connecting Saanich and Esquimalt by safe bike route. The 1.5m sidewalks on Tillicum in either direction, right next to a 4 lane speed circuit, are very uncomfortable for walking, and actually are even worse in Esquimalt where they might actually be unusable for wheelchairs due to the steep dips at driveways.

To the east, someone was recently killed on the sidewalk, and to the west, there is some escape if you take the trail, but the actual sidewalks are again quite narrow, and the buffer provided by the bike lane doesn't begin until further to the west. This is not somewhere I would walk with my kids, which is too bad as I have nieces a few blocks from there. Long term, there would be both an improved intersection here as well as an expansion of the Gorge trail to the east, along the water. There is a bit of trail there but I think it should be more seawall sized.

A lot of these issues could be mitigated for little expense just by road dieting both roads to a 3 lane configuration.

You'd think that with green space on two corners it might encourage more pedestrians, but there is a lack of welcoming entrances to the park land, especially on the SE corner.

I lived near Admirals for a year, and anytime I walked the Gorge Road park I would turn around at Tillicum. Plenty of other people did the same, or would turn even earlier at the canoe club. Redesign of the intersection will be a critical piece of any attempt to create an urban village. This application won't achieve that (nor should it), but I imagine there will be significant sidewalk improvements. I just hope Saanich doesn't pursue some sort of useless art-anchored plaza space at the corner.

I lived near Admirals for a year, and anytime I walked the Gorge Road park I would turn around at Tillicum. Plenty of other people did the same, or would turn even earlier at the canoe club. Redesign of the intersection will be a critical piece of any attempt to create an urban village. This application won't achieve that (nor should it), but I imagine there will be significant sidewalk improvements. I just hope Saanich doesn't pursue some sort of useless art-anchored plaza space at the corner.

Sidewalk improvements are fine but tillicum is an arterial road so I hope there are no old island highway style “traffic calming” measures

I think Tillicum will always be 4 lanes but I do believe we will see Gorge get traffic calmed within this council cycle. It's already calmed to the west and to the east. It just doesn't need 4 lanes.

I think Tillicum will always be 4 lanes but I do believe we will see Gorge get traffic calmed within this council cycle. It's already calmed to the west and to the east. It just doesn't need 4 lanes.

I would be nice if one of Gorge or Burnside would be a proper 4 lanes, with turning lanes, and not blocking the shoulder lane with parking. While the other gets Old Island Highway or the Victoria end of Esquimalt Rd traffic calming.