With a new council, it’s a new survey on the future of Gibsons’ Glassford Road closure. The public has until March 14 to provide input. This can happen virtually via Gibsons.ca or by completing a form, available at the town’s South Fletcher Road offices.
This is the town’s third survey on the matter. The issue was also the subject of the Feb. 28 town “community dialogue” session. A town summary report on the event states about 60 members of the public attended to review and comment on two options for the route.
One option would reopen Glassford between Gower Point and South Fletcher Roads with a reduced speed limit. The second would retain the current situation with the road closed north of Blain Lane. Both options would include the addition of speed humps along Glassford and other adjustments. The effort is aimed at balancing needs for vehicle traffic flow for the wider community along with safety for residents and active transportation users along Glassford.
That road was closed to through traffic in August 2021 on a temporary basis. Post-closure traffic counts conducted on the route and surrounding roads revealed a seven-fold increase in vehicles travelling along Blain Lane. The lane was closed to through traffic in December 2021. In June 2022, Glassford was partially re-opened with the barricaded section adjusted from south of to north of Blain Lane.
The previous council hosted three community engagement sessions on the subject. The matter was also discussed at a variety of council and committee meetings between July 2020 and June 2022.
Following the tabulation and analysis of the current survey input, the matter is scheduled to return to the council table for a decision later this year.
