Bike Lane and Parking Pain Up for Discussion at Council
Prince George, B.C.- Bike to Work Week may be underway, but Prince George City Council will be asked this evening to put the wheels in motion on a re-worked bike plane plan.One of the most contentious areas is Ospika Boulevard between 15th and 22nd, adjacent to the soccer fields and the CN Centre. While the report makes it clear the City plans to move ahead on banning parking from that stretch, it suggests a period of ” “education and coordination” before implementing the no parking rules on Ospika Boulevard adjacent to the soccer fields. The lack of parking on that stretch of Ospika is also a concern for the CN Centre when major events are sold out.
Public consultation in March identified some other areas of concern:
- Ospika Boulevard – 5th Ave to 10th Ave (adjacent to Rainbow Park)
- 15th Ave – Ospika Boulevard to Hwy 97
- 10th Ave – Burden Street to McBride Crescent
The City has it’s own concerns, as snow removal along the bike lanes could add extra costs to that budget, while the removal of parking along Ospika near Rainbow Park could see the City lose income from wedding bookings as there is no other place to park and the gazebo is a popular spot for wedding photos.
The report to Council outlines three specific types of bike lanes:
1. Dedicated Bikeway – restricts parking and stopping; to be used on 33km of arterial road (69km of bike lanes) included within the project. The report recommends that parking be allowed for up to 3 kilometres of the cycle route on arterial roads,
2. Share the Road – to be used where parking cannot be removed at this time because of the lack of available off-street parking for the adjacent land-use or where time is needed to work out alternative parking;
3. Shared Use Lane – Single File Operation – to be used where there is no sufficient width for a dedicated bike lane; speed limit of 30 or 40 kph is recommended to minimize vehicular and cyclist conflict;
Comments
Another example of creeping socialism in disguise. I thought ‘share the road’ was stupid then I scroll down and the best one for the dummies.
“Shared Use Lane’ No common sense left at city hall.
It’s a lovely gesture to give the cyclists their own lane, but why does it have to be on all the “GOOD” streets? Why do they need Ospika to get where they’re going? What’s wrong with the next street over?
what and inconvenience Jillian Merrick and her fellow cyclists?
never gonna happen
Which street would that be? There isn’t another safe street. Ospika would be safe if the cars parked in CN Centre on Saturday. It would be safer for the soccer families too.
There’s that patch of green on 22nd in front of socer field and across from CN parking lot that they could convert to parking.. No one uses that green patch area for anything. Just pull the posts out and pave it. With the amount of people using that field, there really isn’t any designated parking for that area
For that matter, move the entire soccer field fence line from 15th Ave to 22nd Ave along Ospika about six feet in. Grade and pave it to make a dedicated parking space for vehicles and keep the bike lane where it is. Do the same further down Ospika at Rainbow Park, this would be a win-win situation for everyone.
This bicycle lane issue is a farce. Bikers on Ospika at any given moment are as rare as hens teeth. So are pedestrians. So what we have here in fact is a stretch of road and sidewalk that is used very little by bikers and pedestrians, however we need to restrict parking so they can use it at their leisure.
Other Cities allow bikers to use the sidewalks, and this is certainly an issue the City should be looking at. Some bikers do in fact use the sidewalks, so its not as if its never been done.
The City needs to go back to having bicycles licensed if for no other reason than to find out how many people actually own a bike. They can then make a determination as to bicycle needs based on facts and figures, rather than speculation.
Prince George is not a biking town, however I agree that we need to ensure that those who do bike are safe.
It would make more sense to have bikers use sidewalks in certain areas (such as Ospika and 5th) than to restrict parking.
The other issue of course is that biking for the most part is a summer event, so the sidewalk use would for all intents and purposes only be in effect for roughly six months.
any I have seen have been on the sidewalk
I don’t think a mix of fast bikes and pedestrians are a good mix on side walks.
well Jillian Merrick gets another chance to attack motorists while allowing her cyclist friends the freedom to do whatever they like. I have seen more cyclist either on the wrong side of the road or on the sidewalks, sometimes both, than I have on the marked bike lanes..
by hey I am a motorist so the scum of the land I guess…
as for the bike lane between 15 than 22 on Ospika, maybe they should have a talk with the people who take up half or more of the CN Center parking lot to teach motorcyling on weekends.
Driving down 5th avenue there is a sign that says bike lane on 8th avenue, and city has gone and marked 10th avenue as the bike lane… get it together people, make up your minds such as they are.
Drove up to the Hart Wheel Inn and back between 9 and 10 to-day. Seen one person on a bike.
I took foothills this morning. The Hart doesn’t have a bike lane the full length. It’s a hodgepodge of crappy sidewalk, gravel shoulders. So, I’ll be on foothills tomorrow too.
That said, though I’m an avid cyclist, I think this is a bad idea.
If you ban parking, that means kids instead of jumping from the car to the soccer field, will have to cross Ospika to get to the fields. I don’t need a bike lane so much that we make it less safe for children to get to a very healthy positive event.
Bit confused by your statement. If the soccer families were allowed to park at CN Centre, they’d only have to cross 18th and possibly at the crosswalk. Right now they park on both sides of Ospika and kids have to run across 4 lanes of busy traffic and two bike lanes…
Can Centre would be much closer for all but a few lucky ones… And a lot safer.
And the winner for this years city council member who only cares about her own personal issues…..
Jill Merrick..
In celebration of this reward the bike lanes now have vanished from PG streets and all cyclists must now follow the rules of the road…. OMG.. Kaos will ensue
I think they all have their own personal issues,
we just haven’t seen them all…
I also think they made an agreement to allow all the personal wants to pass without contest. just a personal feeling…just like this will pass, hands down, uncontested.
Given that the aforementioned Ms. Merrick openly questioned the amount of money that the city spends plowing snow to make the streets safer for cars, pedestrians, scooters,wheel chairs,etc I have to wonder what she will say about possibly spending more money to plow bike lanes for the handful of people that cycle through the winter.
Drove down Carney St. the other day and noticed the bike lanes, does this mean that the people living there cannot even park in front of their house?
I think the city should install green light bar on the nissan leaf then Jillian can respond “code 3” if a car parks in a bike lane.
I generally agree, but they already do plow the bike/parking lanes in the winter – right onto the sidewalk, then the plow the sidewalk back onto the bike/parking lanes. Fully agree – winter riding is possible, not practical.
Don’t let the chickens in the bike lane!
I just came back from Victoria. The bike lanes there are not next to the curb, but farther out into the roadway, allowing cars to park on the curb. Of course one has to look very well for cyclists when pulling away from the curb, but it does seem to work there, even on the older, narrower streets.
You left out the difference in weather between Victoria and PG.
One street that should not have bikes is Victoria Street. Either that or have no parking on Victoria. I don’t know how many times I have seen a bike rider nearly get hit by someone opening their car door. I have also nearly hit people’s car doors with my vehicle as they open them up without looking to see who is coming.
Many times when I slow down or stop to make a left turn off the main street (there is no left turn lane) I get passed on the right by an impatient driver – using the clearly marked bike lane! I am unconvinced that this method of gaining 5 seconds or less is legal. BTW, where I live bicycle riders are rarer than unlicensed ATVs, trailbikes and snowmobiles roaring down the street at fascinating speeds! Sometimes they even use the bike lanes when they are not on the sidewalk!
Bikes are a mod of transport as other vehicles , so use the road like the rest of transport and start obeying the rules of the road . plus get them licence and insured like every body else.
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