Chilliwack is moving toward becoming a cyclist and pedestrian friendly city.
City-hall watchers may have noticed this steady progression of late, as efforts are ramped up on several fronts at once.
This week at city hall saw a decision by council to look at snowclearing improvements, for not only pedestrians but cyclists too — especially after significant snowfall like what we saw this past winter.
It’s a complete paradigm change for the city to rewrite its snow-clearing priority protocol to include the needs of cyclists, or pedestrians, and not just drivers.
That’s on the heels of a sweeping Cycle Vision plan, in which protected bike paths loom large, geared to strategically improving routes for cyclists of all ages and abilities.
The bold cycle plan maps out improvements and quick wins in the short term, and a continuous network of bicycle routes in the longer term, spanning north-south, from one end of the city to the other.
There are recommendatios afoot to make the new Molson site bike friendly with bike racks on-site, and concrete plans to expand the Sardis Rail Trail by 2018, whereby cyclists and pedestrians can glide over the highway with ease on a brand-new pathway.
This is an extremely positive direction for council to be taking Chilliwack. It’s not a bad thing to make conditions conducive to getting people out of their vehicles.
Careful planning and a meta view with the goal of going greener will only benefit the community.