A petition has been launched asking the City of Prince George to invest in better bike lane infrastructure.
A group called ‘Safe Biking for Prince George’ says the current layout is insufficient and can be dangerous.
In addition, the group feels the current bike lanes feel do not promote cycling in an effective manner.
Kyle Ross, who is the main organizer of the petition told Vista Radio a lot of people give up cycling due to their close calls with other vehicles.
“Once you live in Prince George long enough, you end up having a story from when you were riding on a bike and you got passed super close by a vehicle and that honestly turned you off of cycling because it’s honestly terrifying for a vehicle to pass within a metre of you.”
“I kind of feel super afraid to venture out of my neighborhood and that is something that as soon as I get to Ospika Boulevard I have to turn around because I don’t feel safe riding there.”
“As much as I try to go on roads that are quieter, it makes it hard to use it as a form of viable transportation,” added Ross.
One of the solutions Ross would like to see is a fully protected cycling route, which could be connected to major streets like 5th Avenue, 15th Avenue, Ospika, or Massey.
“It should be a larger sort of network that is protected the entire way and it should be consistent in that protection.”
“It would be excellent to have some sort of separation and that could be through the form of plastic flexible posts, curbs and concrete barriers, which will increase perceived safety drastically.”
Ross believes the northern capital should implement a philosophy similar to Metro Vancouver where there is often a rapid implementation of bicycle infrastructure, which includes cost-effective methods for expanding the bike lane network.
Some of the suggestions include a bike lane pilot, that encourages people to provide feedback, which is then taken into account much faster than if the infrastructure was permanent. With enough public response, a temporary solution could become permanent when the budget allows for it.
Ross added there are a few other solid examples of how bike lanes can be maintained during the winter months, citing Montreal, Quebec as an innovator in that category.
“This can be achieved through design by making the bike lane wide enough that you can have a truck with a plow attached to it or you can have some of those pass-clearing machines that we have – make the bike lane wide enough for those to clean it.”
“You can even go up to the extreme that Montreal does with some of their dedicated bicycle infrastructure, which is to have a machine with a big sweeper on it from the front, which will sweep the path when it has less than two centimetres of snow. Then, it will on the back of the machine drop out a calcium-chloride solution, which can be combined with something like cheese brine or beet juice, which will allow the salt to stick, and not as much snow will accumulate in the future.”
For a link to the petition, click here.
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