While they may still face an uphill battle, Keith Road’s cyclists got a little boost Monday.
Council voted 5-2 to spend an additional $230,000 on a Keith Road bike lane running east alongside a multi-use path between Bewicke and Mahon avenues.
The bike lane is essential to change the way people traverse the city, according to Coun. Linda Buchanan.
“If we want to see a shift in (transportation) mode then we have to be able to create the conditions in which we can see that shift,” she said.
Council’s decision brings the project’s budget to $1.1 million, which includes a $342,500 grant from the BikeBC program and $450,000 from the city’s 10-year project plan.
It’s critical the budget reflects council’s priorities, Buchanan explained.
“We prioritize walking first and the car last.”
Buchanan lauded the project for providing a much-needed connection from the city’s core to its outskirts, arching along West 13th Street between Eighth Street and Chesterfield Avenue with the multi-use path joining the Spirit Trail by Bewicke Avenue as well as the Green Necklace by Jones Avenue.
While she wasn’t opposed to this bike lane specifically, Coun. Pam Bookham suggested council should pump its brakes.
“We ought not be working on three major cycling links in the same year,” she said. “It’s just a case of trying to move too quickly on the overall cycling plan.”
The city needs to move quickly if more residents are going to make the move from internal combustion to pedal power, countered Buchanan.
“The faster that we can actually get these projects, we will see that shift.”
Mayor Darrell Mussatto concurred, saying the city has been forced to move quickly by a sluggish provincial government.
“We’re not getting delivery by the province in terms of public transportation,” he said. “We still haven’t seen a whole lot for the North Shore.”
The bike lane should provide safer space for cyclists chugging uphill, a prospect that pleased both the mayor and Coun. Holly Back.
“It’s not that I’m a big cyclist myself but I definitely worry about those who are,” Back said, describing a young cyclist she said was “flying down” Keith Road’s sidewalk recently.
Construction of the path will be contracted out to a company that will begin work this summer, according to city staff.
The bike lane would “impact approximately 12 on-street parking spots” near the creek on the south side of West Keith, according to city staff. None of the affected spots are directly in front of residences.
