As reported by Global News, approximately 200 residents held a rally in Kitsilano Sunday to protest changes to Point Grey Road and other examples of what they call “wasteful infrastructure spending.”
Two years ago, residents supported measures that closed the street to all but local traffic. Point Grey Road between Alma Street and Macdonald Street was closed permanently to through traffic, removing 10,000 cars per day from the street in order to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The result?
“We have now gone from an unsafe car freeway to an unsafe bike speedway,” Ron Chunick told Vancouver city council.
They are now concerned about the second phase of the city’s project.
The city plans to have the sidewalk on the north side of the street widened by more than a metre at a cost of over $6 million, money that the community organization Concerned Kitsilano Residents says would be better used elsewhere.
“The millions should be redirected to communities and youth in need, not to the richest postal code in Canada,” rally organizer Fiona Brodie said.
They also say the city is wasting millions of dollars on upgrades to the Burrard Street Bridge and has failed to adequately consult the public on plans to build bike lanes on Commercial Drive and near the armoury on Beatty Street.
“We are upset because our communities are repeatedly not being consulted and when we speak up in majority numbers, our voices are ignored,” Brodie said.
Last modified: January 3, 2017
Warning to ALL Vancouver residents: the current Vision-majority Council misrepresents projects and lies to residents to obtain their approval. Hasty bike-first pet projects are being approved without due consultation and despite the creation of grave safety hazards. The “inland seawall” planned as Phase 2 of Point Grey Road has been declared “unsafe” and “likely to cause casualties” by independent traffic engineers, but the current Council approved the redundant, costly and unsafe construction regardless of the risk to you and all users of the road.