A resident of Central Saanich Road is raising concerns about what she says was a lack of communication about the route of a Sunday bike event where a woman was killed in a collision with a pickup truck.
Wendy Beairsto, who lives on Central Saanich Road just south of where the collision occurred, said she’s angry and upset about what she believes was a preventable loss of life.
Lindsay Burgess, 41, died after a collision with a pickup in the intersection of Central Saanich and Tanner roads while riding in the ninth annual Tripleshot CrossFondo, a fundraiser for Tripleshot Cycling Club’s youth training program.
Police have said a preliminary investigation indicates there may have been a misunderstanding about control of the intersection.
The vehicle driver had right of way in the intersection, which was staffed by a volunteer course marshal, who can direct riders but is not a licensed flagger who can control traffic, police have said. Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the collision, they said.
The investigation is ongoing and officers continue to interview more witnesses as they come forward, Sgt. Paul Brailey said Friday, adding a traffic analyst report will likely take a couple of months.
Beairsto said bike races are common on Central Saanich Road and she generally plans to be away or to spend the day at home to avoid driving on a race course. She looked on the CrossFondo website the night before the event to check the route and was frustrated to find it wasn’t available, she said.
The event’s website says no map of the course is published in advance, calling it “uncharted.” Some of the course went through private property and the website asked riders not to cycle on those properties before or after the event.
Beairsto and her husband were driving to the ferry on Sunday during the event and it wasn’t clear to them what was happening.
“There was no event signage, like ‘event in progress’,” she said, adding they didn’t see any signs ahead of time alerting them to the ride.
She found driving through intersections, including Central Saanich and Tanner roads, unorganized. “It needed proper traffic control,” she said.
Beairsto wants to know what was communicated to volunteer marshals and riders in terms of their responsibilities.
“Something needs to change so that this doesn’t happen again. And to get to the root cause of why this happened,” she said.
Event organizers were required to submit a traffic-management plan prepared by a qualified traffic-control professional along with a communications plan for public notification on the route to the District of Central Saanich to obtain a permit.
Beairsto wants to know if the plans were followed, and if so, why they were deemed adequate.
The district won’t release the traffic management or public communication plans, because they’re not district documents, a spokesperson said.
Organizers of the race released a brief statement Monday saying they were heartbroken at Burgess’s death, which “has devastated the cycling community.” They have not responded to interview requests since.
Burgess’s husband, Chad Grice, has said the organizers are committed to doing whatever they can to ensure future events are safe.
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