Burrard Bike Lanes: Dead or Not?

Sam Sullivan may have done some good things in his day, but he's also pulled some smelly shit, that's for sure. Preparing to roll out the red carpet for Mall Wart is bad, and cancelling out on the Burrard bike lane allocations is icing on his cake. Hello! Council already voted on that and gave it the go-ahead! Damn your eyes! Well if you and your dog are at all curious/concerned/annoyed/pissed right off about it, Vancouver City Council is having a special meeting on this very topic at the Council Chambers and your presence would be very much appreciated.

The meeting this at 9:30am (early, i know) this Tuesday, 3rd floor of City Hall at 453 West 12th Avenue.

It would be good to remind the Council of a few things this Tuesday, and here's a beautifully concise list of reasons (courtesy of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition) to support the bike lanes.

1. It's not fiscally prudent to spend 13 to 20+ million of our tax dollars on widening if lane closure will suffice.

2. The city has committed to have 10% of trips in the city travelled on bikes by 2010.

3. Trips across Burrard and Granville Bridges haven't increased in 10 years.

4. The Granville Bridge (about 500 meters away) is underutilized with 8 lanes and takes about half the number of cars daily as Burrard.

5. The City of Vancouver Downtown Transportation Plan states that "Over the next 20 years ... commuter trips on foot and bike are expected to double. Car and truck trips are expected to stay the same."

6. Lane reallocation would demonstrate leadership on the issue of sustainability and would serve as an excellent showcase for the 2006 World Urban Forum, not to mention a little soiree in 2010.

7. According to the staff report on the Burrard Bridge Bicycle Lane Trials, travel behaviour within the corridor was modified in two ways: 1) On an average weekday, there were 870 additional cyclists (39% increase) and a decrease of 8800 car occupants (9% decrease). 2) Delays were reduced from 20 minutes early in the week to a few minutes later in the week.

Well there you go. That's seven reasons compared to the one reason that i can think of to keep lanes for cars. Anyhow, hope to see you at the meeting, but if you can't make it, you can still contact your As Good As An Uncle Sam Sullivan and the gang to share your poignant thoughts.