More protected bike lanes are in Chilliwack's future.
Protected facilities loom large in Cycle Vision Chilliwack, the latest transportation plan update from City of Chilliwack, geared to improving pathways and routes for cyclists of all ages and abilities.
The updated plan will be on display at a Cycle Vision open house in Chilliwack on Saturday April 1, from 10 a.m. to noon at city hall.
The details went up on the big screens in council chambers last week, explained by consultant Richard Drdul, a community transportation planner working on the draft.
The draft plan was received by city council and forwarded to the transportation advisory committee.
"This is a project that's long overdue," said Mayor Sharon Gaetz. "People come to expect that they can go from one end of town to the other."
Right now that's not possible.
Even though the city has added about 180 km of bike lanes, shoulder bikeways, pathways and trails, and the plan calls for filling in even more of the gaps, and making the routes safer.
They'll be working on improvements and quick wins in the short term, with an eye to creating a continuous network of bicycle routes in the longer term.
Currently there are "delineated bicycle lanes on major roads, wide traffic lanes on minor roads, and paved shoulders on rural roads. While these types of facilities create extra space on the road for cyclists, they do not offer any protection from traffic," according to the report.
"Feedback from the community indicates a strong desire for bicycle facilities that incorporate some form of protection."
The expansion north of the Sardis Rail Trail to Airport Road is highly anticipated by the public. The plan envisions the Rail Trail as "the spine" of the future network, "providing a direct, traffic-free north-south connection that is attractive to cyclists of all ages and abilities," from the report.
Current funding set aside in city coffers of about $16.8 million only covers only about half of the priority projects that total almost $36 million, so cost-sharing with senior levels of government and other agencies is going to be necessary.
Members of the public filled out 157 opinion surveys in response to last year's planning survey and the feedback made clear they want more "protected" facilities that separate and shield cyclists from vehicle traffic, and improvements to create "continuous" routes to get them to and from their destinations. They also want more bike parking.
Protected routes can have shoulders or buffers or physical barriers like bollards or even parked traffic to separate cyclists from traffic.
"A key feature of the future network is protected bicycle facilities," said transportation planner Drdul, in his presentation. These are the types of trails that gain new cyclists, and an increase in the number already cycling.
Mayor Gaetz said they need "buy-in" from the wider community for the plan to make improvements responsibly, as well as from the already supportive biking population.
"I hope we can have a healthy conversation in that regard," she said.
Coun. Chris Kloot said he was excited to see Cycle Vision go forward.
Coun. Sue Attrill noted she could see it being a "huge" challenge in terms of parking in some areas.
"I would never want to put the business community in the position of losing parking," Attrill said during the council meeting.
"It's great to look after our environment with cycle routes all over but my only concern is that over time we don't lose parking or our business community. There has to be a balance."
Coun. Jason Lum praised the significant commitment to cycling and real improvements geared to "active transportation" of cyclists.
The updated cycle plan will be on display at an open house in Chilliwack on April 1, from 10 a.m. to noon at city hall, with a presentation at 10:30 a.m. The Cycle Vision plan then goes to the Transportation Advisory Committee for review, with details of the public feedback to be considered before the final draft.