DON’T RUIN PARK IN KITS
It has been discombobulating to see cycling advocates and green crusaders battling over a proposed bike lane through Kitsilano Beach Park. More often they are on the same side, chanting anti-car slogans in unison.
For the beach-goers, picnickers, ball players, dog walkers, people watchers and others who treasure the little stretch of parkland that borders Arbutus to the east and salt water to the west, as well as the grassy knoll along Cornwall, the idea of laying a ribbon of asphalt through chestnut tree groves and verdant lawns is abhorrent. The hugely accessible beach and parkland attract thousands of visitors every summer. It’s one of the reasons people in the neighbourhood live there.
Cyclists, on the other hand, cannot safely ride through the throngs of pedestrians on the existing path — although many try — and want a route that allows them to complete a seaside circuit without interruption or the inconvenience of vehicular traffic.
The matter was supposed to be decided at a Vancouver park board meeting this past Monday, but the board voted to refer it back to the engineering department for further study.
Considering that a bike lane through this park has been debated for five years or so, one might have thought that all the study would be done. But the total cost, the number of trees to be lost and other details are still unknown.
The route from Balsam Street and Cornwall Avenue in the west to Ogden Avenue and Maple Street in the northeast would result in the loss of about 930 square metres of green space, roughly the size of two basketball courts. Demonstrators before the meeting carried signs reading: “Is concrete the new green?”
They have a point. Running a cycling speedway through the park will ruin it. Cyclists uncomfortable using Cornwall have the option of the York Avenue bikeway a block south. Side streets off Arbutus — Creelman, Whyte and McNicoll — have traffic-calming measures in place and are quiet, tree-lined streets suitable for cycling.
Since the Vision party-led council is determined to make driving as unpleasant as possible anyway, why would it not simply impose parking restrictions in the area to make cycling that much safer?
In its deliberations, park board staff should prioritize other alternatives for a cycling route — and consider whether it is needed at all — rather than compromise one of Vancouver’s most popular destinations.