Narrow strip of concrete voted Greater Victoria’s ‘jankiest sidewalk’
Global News
The annual contest asks capital region residents to vote on the worst sidewalk in the region in an effort to bring attention to pedestrian safety and dangerous infrastructure.
It’s narrow. It’s got telephone poles sticking out of it. It’s a hair’s breadth away from traffic. And it’s been awarded the title of the “jankiest” sidewalk in Greater Victoria.
The dubious honour is bestowed annually by a Victoria group, Walk On, Victoria, that takes photo submissions of janky — that is, poor quality — sidewalks every June, then holds a vote to determine the worst.
This year’s “Janky June” winner, located on Landowne Road opposite Camosun College in Saanich, was snapped by Chad Gaucher.
“I’ve always just noticed how terrible this sidewalk is. I see a lot of people coming by here and struggling with it,” Gaucher said.
“My whole foot is probably longer than the sidewalk is (wide).”
The presence of a telephone pole embedded in the middle of the roughly 40-centimetre-wide pathway often forces people to step into the road to walk around it, he added.
“And when there’s two lanes of traffic coming, there’s not a lot of room for the cars to move over, so it’s a very awkward situation,” he said.
“When I was actually submitting my photo I got lucky enough for a bus to be coming by right as I was taking my photos, and it was quite scary actually, with the wind blowing me over almost.”