The head of engineering for the Town of Gibsons told council this week that a new style of bike lane could allow Shaw Road residents to keep their on-street parking, while improving safety for cyclists.
Council faced a backlash from people in the Shaw Road area after voting in late September to eliminate most of the on-street parking and add two bike lanes as part of a project to create a cycling route between upper and lower Gibsons. The $146,000 project, funded in part by a $73,000 Bike BC grant, also includes the low-gradient trail that now links Stewart and Shaw roads.
The opposition led Mayor Wayne Rowe to call for a reconsideration vote, and to ask Town staff to hold an open house to get fresh feedback and come back with new options.
Director of engineering Dave Newman presented those options ahead of Tuesday night’s reconsideration vote, and they included something known as “advisory” bike lanes. Newman explained that advisory lanes are used in Europe, and will soon be included in the Transportation Association of Canada’s Geometric Design Guide for Canada Roads – the standard followed by municipalities and the province.
It allows for two bike lanes, but drivers are allowed to use the lanes when needed as long as they yield to cyclists. Newman said installing that type of bike lane on Shaw Road would allow for half of the existing on-street parking. He also said it could take drivers and cyclists time to learn how to use the new lane system, but he’s confident any confusion would be quick to fade.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote favoured the original plan, but called the advisory lanes a good compromise. “I was comfortable letting go of those [on-street parking spots]. I heard some people support it, some people against it. I thought people could adapt, but I have to say some of the things we heard were pretty compelling,” he said.
“With the response that we received from people in the area that are affected,” said Rowe, “and based on listening to people at the presentation that we held [Nov. 3], I’ve become of the view that elimination of parking on both sides of that street is not the best solution.”
Coun. Silas White said he also had misgivings about the earlier plan, and opposes eliminating parking on both sides of Shaw.
“I’m willing to reconsider this as a phased approach, but it has to make sense to our whole community,” said Coun. Charlene SanJenko, who added that without the new option on the table she’d still vote for the original approach. “We have a plan to build a cycle network for our whole community, we’ve seen the whole network and we accessed project funding in order to complete and implement that plan.”
Coun. Stafford Lumley said, “I like the idea … if it’s something that works well it could be used other places around town. I’d like to see it monitored somehow over the next while, because maybe if we do make the road safer for bikes – and it is linked now to a low gradient trail – the number of people that bike on that road will increase.”
Council went on to reverse the Sept. 20 recommendation, with Valeriote the only vote in support. Councillors weren’t ready, however, to give the advisory lanes the final go-ahead. They passed a motion asking Newman to prepare a more detailed report which council could debate at a future committee meeting.
