The Insurance Corporation of BC, in Bike Sense, sets out the following:

Parked cars: 
Ride no closer than one metre from parked cars to avoid being hit by an opening door. The doors of some vehicle types can swing far into your lane. If you can see that the car is occupied, be particularly careful. Where cars are parked intermittently, ride in a straight line instead of swerving in and out between the parked cars. This increases your visibility and predictability for car drivers on the road.
When to take a lane If there is no shoulder or bike lane and the curb lane is narrow (i.e. when the right wheel track of most traffic is less than a metre from the curb), cyclists may choose to take the whole lane by riding in the centre of it. This can be safer than riding near the curb, which may encourage motorists to squeeze by where there is not sufficient room. You should also consider taking the lane when you are traveling at the same speed as other traffic. This will keep you out of motorists’ blind spots and reduce conflicts with right-turning traffic. Be prepared for the occasional frustrated driver who is not familiar with the safe and legal operation of a bicycle.

Regarding Monterey Avenue, this route and landscape has changed in a very significant way. It is doubtful that a 1950s or 1960s photo would show the same number of cars parked along Monterey as today. In that era, families generally had one car, and some had no car. Two cars were rare, and three unheard of. Today, 2-3 vehicles per family are not uncommon. This means more cars end up parked on the street.

Just look at the vehicle activity around Monterey/Oak Bay Ave/ Library/Royal Bank area to understand the dangers for kids on bikes.

As for sidewalk (i.e. pedestrian) safety, it is motor vehicles, not bicycles that cause the vast majority of pedestrian injuries and deaths.

Regarding the Mount joy/Runnymede, what has changed is that Margaret Jenkins and Monterey Schools have had their grade catchments modified. Since 2007, one is a middle school while the other serves only the primary grades. This means children in Oak Bay now travel to Margaret Jenkins School, while Fairfield children must now travel to Monterey. Kids no longer attend schools in their close neighbourhoods, and with more parents driving to school, those who walk are at increased risk. We have a duty to protect them.

What we all hope to see is less cars all around Oak Bay. If everyone were to embrace walking, cycling, transit, and/or smaller, electric scooters or smart cars, I’d feel that kids would be a lot safer traveling across the municipality.

I struggle with the paved sidewalk issue, because it’s more permeable surface that can’t absorb rainwater, and the carbon created from the production of cement doesn’t help either. But, if we want people to get out walking, we should make sure it’s easy, and smooth surfaces do make it easy.

That route and that landscape hasn’t changed, so too bad what makes for “common sense” has.

Putting in sidewalk bulges is a disaster — narrowing the road just pushes bikes and cars dangerously close together. If you want sidewalks to be safe, make sure bikes stay off them — it’s not cars that drive on them. Re. speed, the bumps are effective. Narrowing just causes gridlock and engine idling (wasn’t last year’s cause the anti-idling instruction?)

We so hope the municipality does not tamper with the country road nature of Runnymede and Mount Joy. Leave the flower-filled boulevards alone; no one has died yet because there aren’t sidewalks. Why change what has worked for decades? The traffic is no different there, and so long as house density doesn’t increase, it never will be.