Dave Thompson
@DaveThompsonVIC
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Policy, strategy. Also Victoria Councillor and CRD Director. ♥️ & live in Victoria. Retweets etc ≠ endorsement. My own views only. ☄️⏳ #yyjpoli he/him
Victoria, BC, Canada
Joined July 2021
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Pinned Tweet
Public housing? Yes.
Nonprofit housing? Yes.
Housing generally? Yes.
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Science denial. This is what it looks like.
John Rustad is still pushing his climate conspiracies: "Even if you think CO2 is the problem, and many people still believe that."
John - when you say 'many people' do you mean 98%+ of scientists?
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Liberal and NDP: please be this blunt.
Stop trying to please city governments with conciliatory talk about gently encouraging housing.
Say it clearly to cities: No dense, transit oriented development? No federal dollars.
Voters are your constituents. Cities are not.
Be blunt
Want more homes for students & seniors?
Require cities approve massive apartments next to all federally-funded transit stations.
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Free advice:
Don't double down on a message with a terrible ratio that includes mainstream media and the Premier.
1 Apologize.
2 Have the external discussions needed to actually understand the criticism.
3 Hold internal training sessions.
(Happy to give more specific advice.)
Pedestrian safety is a two-way street. What pedestrians and drivers can do to make our roadways safer
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We really need direct, frequent, rapid bus to the airport. This is BC's Capital. Buses don't need to turn a profit. We need it as a public service, to make life easier, and to reduce traffic and GHG emissions. It's 2022 - please just do it
@bcndp
&
@BCTransit
.
#yyj
#yyjpoli
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Build it and they will come. Cycling up, even as overall daily travel went down.
Protected bike-and-roll infrastructure works. Will we build more of it? Yes, we will.
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Here is what's going to happen over the next 4 years. Victoria City Council is going to make decisions and change the rules of the game to build much more housing and achieve the City's climate goals.
Zero apologies.
(Just my opinion of course.)
#yyjpoli
#housing
#climateaction
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Here is how to make housing more expensive:
NEW - A BC Conservative government would scrap Bill 44, the legislation requiring communities to take on additional housing density through density on single-family home lots. The power would be given to municipalities to determine density on single family lots.
#bcpoli
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This website is becoming more and more unhinged.
Now, apparently, if you talk about standard house designs like the Sears Catalogue used to provide, you are a commie who supports Soviet-style apartment blocks.
It's bots and conspiracy theorists all the way down.🤦🏼♂️
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Canvassing door-to-door demonstrated for me that Twitter is very far from representative of the broader population. And the election results confirm it. Love you Victoria. 🥰
#yyjpoli
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@BrentToderian
Also...
Exceptionalist: Yeah well this city isn't ____________ [insert name of city that is moving forward on providing transportation choices]
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Tonight I thank my amazing team of supporters for this win.😚 Also thanks to my fellow candidates for standing for election. Most of all, thanks to the voters for thinking carefully about what you want for the future of this great city, and for voting for it.
#yyjpoli
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@RobShaw_BC
Very pleased to see this. The Government has been discussing it publicly for many, many months. Others have been discussing it for years. Many jurisdictions around the world have already done it. It's overdue.
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Very pleased that Victoria City Council voted unanimously to continue pedestrianization of Government Street.
The retail vacancy rate on Montreal’s Mont-Royal Avenue dropped from 14.5% before pedestrianization (2018) to 5.6% after pedestrianization (2023).
📍 Montreal 🇨🇦
@Val_Plante
@AvenueMontRoyal
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This is one of the many reasons not to vote conservative.
Rustad argues the science around human causes of climate change is “a theory and it’s not proven,” a position widely at odds with accepted science. But Rustad maintains there is no pressing need to legislate solutions. “It’s not even a crisis”.
#bcpoli
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This is where we are headed in Greater Victoria - regional rapid bus. Maybe rail too. The days of everyone having to drive are drawing to a close, and it can't happen soon enough.
#yyj
#yyjpoli
#yyjtransit
You are not IN traffic; you ARE traffic*.
*want less of it? Support more choice for others!
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Globe and Mail editorial on improving road safety:
✅ Reduce some speed limits
✅ Automated enforcement
✅ Redesigning roads, eg. narrowing lanes, widening sidewalks, adding bike lanes
✅ Raised crosswalks
✅ Pedestrian priority & ending rights on red
✅Stripping out slip lanes.
Globe editorial: Too many pedestrians and cyclists are killed by cars. There are solutions
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Over 4,000 casualty crashes (injury or death) in the City of Victoria from 2018 to 2022.
We need drivers to stop at red lights and obey the speed limit.
Camera enforcement is effective.
I hope our colleagues on Council support this unanimously.
#yyjpoli
#safety
Councillors Dave Thompson and Matt Dell want the city to ask the province to install speed and red-light cameras at all locations in Victoria where there were more than 20 casualty crashes between 2018 and 2022
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Downtown
#Victoria
on CBC this morning - Bruce Williams, CEO of
@ChamberVictoria
. More restaurants opening than closing, 9% vacancy rate is lower than other cities (eg 32% Edmonton). While it has problems (eg over-concentration of services), downtown is safe, great place to be.
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The City of Victoria is prioritizing pedestrians - as per our Official Community Plan - and moving forward on safety. Staff are looking at the data on crashes, and addressing unsafe intersections.
And now the third slip-lane removal in that I’ve seen in
#Victoria
recently. This is the second at this intersection (Blanshard and Hillside). Very happy to see this and really hoping that
@saanich
takes some inspiration.
#VisionZero
#yyjbike
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Ridiculous claims for someone seeking office.⬇️👎
Trump-style, personal-attack politics. The public deserves better.
For people who are actually interested in solutions, come to one of my coffee chats. Here are some starting points on a serious topic:
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Standardized designs have arrived. Next step: getting municipal permits for these fast-tracked ahead of custom houses.
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Do we need cars to be able to run at 120mph, when the technology exists to limit speeds? Please enlighten me.
#safety
Unreal video from Fairfax County Police. Officer was doing a traffic stop near Fairfax when FCPD says a 17 yr old driving a BMW M3 over 120 mph lost control & slammed into the pulled over car. It’s a miracle but no one involved was seriously hurt. Turn the sound up to hear it.
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Paris is building a massive expansion of transit and cycling infrastructure. We can do this too.
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David Eby and the
@bcndp
will now need *very* strong climate action. Not more targets or symbolic actions. Will need legislation and budgetary changes that get results - significant GHG emission reductions, as per Clean BC Roadmap.
#bcpoli
#ClimateActionNow
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Multimodal infrastructure that makes walking, biking and transit enjoyable is a huge economic advantage for cities; smart cities know this and are building this infrastructure to be more competitive-
@BrentToderian
#yyjbike
#yyjtransit
#yyjwalk
#yyjpoli
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Really, really urging candidates - whether announced yet or not - to stick to policy debate and avoid weird personal attacks and trolling. Can't believe I need to say this to adults.
#yyjpoli
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How is it that we've convinced beings that are 60% water that they can drown?
#climatechange
#Science
Rustad on carbon taxing and carbon pollution. "How is it we have convinced carbon based beings that carbon is the problem. We can't make a difference, we are a rounding area."
#bcpoli
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As I said in Council, car-light and car-free living isn't for everyone. But it is for some (actually for many: 80% of the net households added in recent years). Car-free households shouldn't be forced to subsidized thousands of dollars of parking that they're not going to use.
Project that replaces 15-unit apartment proposes four parking stalls while existing zoning calls for at least 60
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Proposal: 55 rental homes above ground floor uses, eg café or restaurant and closing the intersection of Richmond Road and Birch Street to create a public plaza "that will extend and amplify the positive pedestrian-oriented activity."
#yyjpoli
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I live in a 15-minute community: I can walk to my local grocery store, to the hardware store, to the cafes. I can also bus, ride or drive anywhere I want in the city, region, province, or country.
Why has the ‘15-minute city’ taken off in Paris but become a controversial idea in the UK?
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Sad to see this anti-housing rhetoric. "Trickle down" Reaganomics has absolutely nothing to do with moving chains / vacancy chains, which are well documented by evidence in peer-reviewed articles by credible researchers. Whose votes are you trying to get?
How will we make a difference? We’ll end subsidies for oil and gas companies, improve public transportation, build co-op and non-market housing, and not rely on markets to ‘trickle down’ unaffordable housing to those most in need.
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Listen to John Rustad accusing Dr. Bonny Henry of using the "so-called" vaccine for "control on the population."
(Kevin Falcon used to say the BC Cons are actually the Conspiracy Party.)
Video shows B.C. Conservative John Rustad saying he regrets getting ‘so-called vaccine’
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Bullying, harassment and threats of violence are unacceptable, period.
See how I did that?
No "but..."
No "however..."
No "what about..."
#yyjpoli
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The BC and Federal governments will need to shift spending out of highway expansions, bridges, tunnels, etc - and into transit and protected bike and roll lanes - if they want to achieve their own GHG and VKT reduction targets.
#ClimateAction
One thing we know for SURE — building & widening highways ALWAYS succeeds in helping sell more cars, gas & suburban sprawl; burning more public budgets; & increasing GHG emissions. So if THOSE are your goals, it’s the perfect thing to do.
Just don’t expect it to reduce traffic.
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Sprawl costs cities more, and generates less revenues.
It also brings hidden - and large - cost for the home buyer, as sprawl tends to be car dependent, and each car costs ~$10,000 per year to own & operate.
And of course driving brings health, environmental and climate costs.
Suburban
#Sprawl
costs 38% more in upfront public costs & 10% more in ongoing costs than compact development, PLUS has only 1/10th the tax revenue per acre, confirms report summarizing 17 studies. Important
#citymakingmath
via
@CityLab
&
@SmartGrowthUSA
:
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Victoria needs more walkable communities, and this Council is going to make it happen.
#yyjpoli
The fact that it's impossible to walk somewhere as simple as a coffee shop nearly anywhere in the US, because we've made it illegal, is really one of the craziest things about modern America. We have to build walkable cities!
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The days of the single detached starter house are long gone.
The norm is multi-family.
The City of Victoria will be making it easier to build a variety of housing types in all neighbourhoods.
#yyjpoli
#housing
#affordability
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This is why we need more homes in the right places - walkable communities and near transit and protected bike-and-roll infrastructure. 40% of downtown households are car free and save 💲💲💲
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Stunning to see the amount of disinformation and lies about candidates by people trying to get their favourites elected. We should be debating policy and platforms instead of misleading, polarizing and trying to anger voters. Please behave like grownups.
#yyjpoli
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Hi all, I will be running for Victoria City Council in October 2022. Victoria is a great place and we need to keep what's great as the City grows, and make it better.
#yyj
#yyjpoli
#VictoriaBC
. My priorities include … 1/n
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481 purpose built rental homes (incl. 149 2BR, 15 3BR), no renter displacement (replaces car dealership). Fully electric building. 166 resident parking stalls, 604 long-term bike parking, 4 car share EVs. Excellent transit, walkable. 1050 Yates, on CoTW agenda Thursday.
#yyjpoli
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On Thursday's agenda. Mixed use, 541 pet-friendly homes at Douglas & Caledonia: 131 below-market rental (20% at shelter rates), 171 rental, 147 market condo, and a supportive housing partnership with
@BC_Housing
. No displacement.
#Housing
#affordablehousing
#yyjpoli
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Is there any Postmedia coverage of this? It was on CBC and most US news networks.
A US presidential candidate stated - three times - that there would not be future votes.
This is the biggest international story today. There is no excuse for any media not covering it.
Trump: You have to get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.
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Time's up! Thanks for guessing!
5%? Nope
12%? Nope
The most common guess - 31% - is close! That was the number in 2011.
But the least guessed, 43%, is the answer.
Yes 43% of downtown Victoria households are car-free.
#yyjpoli
#yyjwalk
#yyjbike
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Exciting changes coming to Blanshard Street! Improved lighting and safety for all users, accessibility upgrades, new accessible parking spaces, much-needed trees and landscaping.😀😀😀
Attend the online session or the in person session.
#yyj
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I will be working to have Victoria establish a number of transit oriented areas with higher density - in addition to our provincially designated transit exchange.
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@zacdevries
Man we are so *all-in* on protected bike and roll lanes I mean just look at the numbers amiright
#yyjbike
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We have speed cameras ("photo radar") in BC communities, at intersections. I think we should look at having them in school zones too.
I stepped onto Wilson Street at the Vic West School Crosswalk after passing a group of 50 4-5 y/o children. An SUV barrelled toward me @ 70km/hour. I could c driver had no intention of stopping. 1/2
@DaveThompsonVIC
@SusanKimYYJ
@JeremyCaradonna
@mattdellok
@KristaLoughton
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Had a short trip to Toronto - was great to have rapid transit around town and right out to the airport. We need better transit to Victoria airport,
@victoriatransit
.
#yyz
#yyj
#yyjtransit
#yyjpoli
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Car-free living is already a reality for thousands of Victoria households. We shouldn't force them to pay for parking they are not using. Letters from
@timescolonist
#yyjpoli
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Statements about provincial "overreach" into "municipal jurisdiction" on housing are a sad reminder that civics courses should be mandatory in our schools.
Every adult should understand the basics of how our governments and laws work.
1/2🧵
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This is a disaster for renters, who are the majority of Victoria residents - whether they are paying today's market rents, or are trapped a suite they've been renting for a long time. We need vacancy rates to be much higher, which means building a lot more housing.
Victoria ranked as Canada’s third most expensive city: study
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Blanshard Street upgrades are coming: construction starts this month.
Protected bike-and-roll lanes, safer crosswalks, improved lighting, accessibility and traffic signal upgrades, new accessible parking spaces, and new trees and landscaping. 😀
Exciting changes coming to Blanshard Street! Improved lighting and safety for all users, accessibility upgrades, new accessible parking spaces, much-needed trees and landscaping.😀😀😀
Attend the online session or the in person session.
#yyj
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Excellent news. This will help to reduce the cost of housing, and make more housing available, especially family-friendly housing (2br, 3br).
Today, I updated the BC Building Code to allow for Single Egress Stair (SES) designs in low- and mid-rise buildings.
By allowing SES, we will boost our housing supply and create more options for families who need larger layouts and designs.
👉🏾
🧵[1/4]
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Thursday, Victoria Council will hold a hearing on, and decide whether to allow, a back deck. About same size as the adjacent townhouse deck.
We shouldn't be doing this. It's bad governance.
Decisions like this should be delegated to staff, and hopefully soon will be.
#yyjpoli
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Anyone claiming that any current Council member doesn't acknowledge the humanitarian disaster on our streets, the disorder / crime, drug use, mental health problems, etc is either living in a fantasy world, or actively fabricating lies.
Just stop. Grow up. Focus on solutions.
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Had a nice hike at Mount Wells Regional Park on the weekend. 🥾 Saw where new homes go when we don't allow them in cities.
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A couple of downtown residents shared this today.
“As senior downtown residents, my wife and I want to thank you for real action on the build out of protected bike lanes, improved crosswalks and pedestrian safety measures, along with slower and safer streets." 1/2
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This is why we build bike lanes.
They aren't for the bros who routinely ride in motor vehicle traffic (😬).
They are for the majority: kids, families, seniors and others who are uncomfortable with the risks.
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We need to be looking 10, 20, 30 years into the future as this city evolves, not looking to return to the past, much less an idealized and imaginary past.
Expect some changes.
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👇City of Victoria staff also understand that "free" parking isn't actually free; it's subsidized by taxpayers, businesses, and customers, and that subsidy distorts markets. I expect we will be having a discussion about City parking and efficiency later this year.
Shout out to
@TownofCanmore
for being very honest with people about the high cost of free parking!
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@timescolonist
I'm seeing lots of mobility scooters in the protected bike and roll lanes, which is great! We are going to need to revisit the widths on some of the lanes.
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These were people's homes.
I will not be going slowly on climate action.
I will be *accelerating* climate action.
#ClimateEmergency
#ClimateAction
#yyjpoli
#yyj
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I'm hearing stories of workers having to leave town because they can't find home / afford rent. Bad for people, bad for business, bad for the city. Victoria needs far more housing.
#yyj
#yyjpoli
#Housing
#availability
#affordability
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Met a friend on the morning walk. Their older son is now working in construction, which is an industry with a lot of demand. 👍
But can't find a place that's affordable to him, so is leaving Victoria.
We need to build more homes, build more homes and build more homes.
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👀 Car-free townhouse proposal unanimously approved by
@saanich
Council.
#yyjpoli
#housing
#ClimateAction
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Regional trail widening is on the CRD Transportation Committee agenda this Wednesday. ✅
User volumes on sections of the Galloping Goose and Lochside trails are 40% higher than 2020 projections.
#yyj
#yyjbike
#yyjpoli
Regional infrastructure will need to be updated to accommodate more users, variety of devices. Saw 10+ mobility devices on E&N and Galloping Goose. About 60-70% of cyclists were on e-bikes, mainly seniors. Lots of people, no conflicts, all friendly (it's real life, not Twitter).
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Reimagining our public spaces. More greenspace, more people.
Here is what one neighborhood group is doing - te Statlew
@StGeorgeRainway
#yyjpoli
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This map is a good guide to where more homes and businesses are going to be located in the future.
It's a transit map.
Expect to see City policy changes this year to accelerate transit-oriented development in Victoria. ...
#ClimateAction
#yyjpoli
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Dear Voters,
Every party and politician needs to be genuinely working toward transit oriented development, and development oriented transit.
(Or they are living in a different century & please do not elect them).
Thanks,
Dave
#ClimateAction
#transit
#cdnpoli
#bcpoli
#yyjpoli
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The housing crisis needs action. I will be making starter motions to:
✅ Accelerate affordable housing
✅ Build on Victoria’s house conversion regulation
✅ Modernize zoning
✅ Provide parking choice
✅ Address short-term rentals
See my blog:
#yyjpoli
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Bollards and concrete medians will be installed over the next 2 weeks on Fort, from Cook to Fernwood, for protected bike-and-roll lanes.
#yyjbike
@WorldBollard
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