Well nice to see they want to discourage people from coming downtown and shopping. Parking should not be in two different zones for time, as people will just get confused and apparently a very stiff ticket under this new system. Forget, people will just head to the malls even more then they do now. When I venture downtown I often spend more than hour in the high demand zone, and walk from one store to another and make an morning of it. Not any more if I can only park for an hour. I will come for my hour and then head to the malls.

With less people coming downtown that solves the transportation problem !

I agree. When we go to our favourite downtown hotel for lunch or breakfast it usually takes more than an hour total.

Worrying about exceeding a one hour parking limit would definitely spoil the experience and we would not go there anymore.

The last thing we need are more parking regulations and restrictions. The city can acquire some empty lots (by buying and removing rundown hovels) and convert them to FREE parking lots for those who venture downtown - but only if the City is actually serious about having a revitalized downtown and is willing to walk the walk instead of only talking the talk.

"The report's authors say the value of the parking tickets has to be high enough so 'people will take it seriously'."

They've got to be kidding!

Cheers!

The bicycle routes should be thought out differently then around Ft George Park, where they are full of parked cars.

Why does the graphic look like a baseball diamond infield?

Is traffic flow downtown really an issue the city should be spending time and money on?

Yeah, downtown Prince George sucks, but it's not because of the traffic.

I don't know about you guys, but I avoid going downtown because I'm scared of the bums, prostitutes and drunken natives who harass me. They holler at me, they follow me around, they ask me for things, and they try to get into my car.

Bicycle routes and parking fines would just make me avoid the area even more.

I'm not saying that we should have the police chase them out of the area, because I know they would just end up making trouble somewhere else, but harsher parking fines? For Pete's sake, does the city want people to go downtown and spend money at local businesses, or not?

HA! I like you, Bohemian. :D

Let's see if I get this right. They want us to come downtown to shop, but they increase the amount of money it takes to park there by decreasing the meter time. Its like: Thanks for shopping here, now hurry up and get lost.

Traffic study? I understand what a study is, but what is traffic? I've never seen any "traffic" downtown.
I remember decades ago when you couldn't find a parking spot downtown, but those days are long gone, along with the shoppers.

There is a couple of changes I would like to see in a traffic flow pattern so you can get through that area of the city quicker.
Reduce the number of traffic lights and improve the timing of the lights on Queensway between 5th and 2nd.
Add a barrier through the intersection on Victoria and 1st, so that the traffic light only applies to the left hand lane on 1st Ave going towards Cameron Street bridge.

The city is pushing the idle free zone stuff so lets get with it, and reduce the idling through the downtown. Also there is less time to look at the hookers and bums downtown if the traffic keeps moving.

I think they should install giant lobster traps. Then the bums, drunken native, prostitutes etc can get inside for some bait and not get out..then they are harvested and shipped away.

Anybody else notice that the new parking strategy calls for a new parking strategy? Wow, planning for their continued employment! I've got an idea city staff - come up with a strategy that works, and then you won't need to call for a new strategy again.

Very few of these studies would ever take place if the City did not over tax business and residents, and therefore create a surplus of money that they can use for various and sundry projects. Without the money most of this crap would die on the drawing board.

750 or more Employees at City Hall. All paid very well, with the best perks, more Managers than the CHL, WHL,CFL,NHL, combined, and hiring more people every day.

What do we get for our money.

(1) Increased taxes to pay for our roads.

(2) Closure of the Swap Sheds at the transfer stations. I guess this was done because a large number of tax payers used this facility and it was free. Heaven forbid.

(3) Close down the old transfer station that was free. Build a brand new one that requires additional manning, and charge taxpayers $2.00 to use. Then at a later date increase the use to $4.00. This then creates a situation where less people use the facility, and they cram more garbage into their home containers, and of course this will cost the City more at the landfill and then they will have to increase the cost of garbage again. Can anyone see the insanity of it all??

(4) Build a new bridge across the Nechako River at a cost of $13Million when you could have repaired the old one for $1 Million.

(5) Give thousands of yards of gravel to the Ice Oval Society to sell, so that they can generate enough money to solicit more money from the other levels of Government to build a new ice oval

(6) Pay for a replay board for the MultiPlex at a cost of $800,000.00 or more so that the 50% attendence by hockey fans can watch a replay.

(7) With money from other levels of Government plus City money build a connector between the Multiplex and Kin one and two, for a cost of $3 Million or more so that people can walk between the buildings without going outside. Guess what. People rarely if ever use this connector.

(8) With money from other levels of Government plus City money build a tunnel under highway 16 so that people will not have to cross the highway. This one is really a bad decision and I expect that once we get a few muggings, or rapes, it will be never used.

(9) Funnel $5 Million into the SportsPlex on the hill, along with money from the Provincial Goverment, and the University. The University portion was borrowed money, and I beleive it will be paid back by the City, in any event, between the City and the University the cost to taxpayers to operate this facility on a yearly bases will be $600,000.00 at a minimum. In addition this facility will draw business away from legitimate business/s such as Golds Gym, Curves, and others, including the *Y*. It will also draw business away from the Civic Centre.

(10) Totally revamp our garbage disposal system with the excuse that the new system will reduce injuries, and therefore costs to WCB, plus it will be a cheaper system. We now find out that the cost of injuries to WCB was minimal, and that the new system will cost more, not less than the old.

(11) Lease office space in Vancouver through Initiatives Prince George for two years at a cost of $44,000.00 and then close it down for lack of interest, never once acknowleging that many people were opposed to this waste of money.

(12) Buy the CN Building on first Avenue for a huge cost, and staff it with some tourist people and Initiatives Prince George Staff. When CN had this building they had 80 or 90 people working there. I doubt if IPG and the tourism people could come up with 10. Has anyone ever figured out how much this space costs per square foot to have these people there. In addition this building was approx 35 years old when the City bought it, and they now say that the Police Station is getting old and will have to be rebuilt. Guess what? The police station is approx 35/40 years old.

After the City purchased the CN Building they were supposed to get a yearly rental for the space used by Via Rail and CN, somewhere in the area of 100,000.00 per year. However they have now determined that the ground that the building sits on in contaminated, and therefore they will not purchase the property until CN removes the Contaminated soil. CN has no plans on removing the soil in the short term and therefore stated that until it was removed they would not pay any rent for the facilities they are using. This resulted in a write off of approx 100,000.00 in revenue for IPG last year. Duh???

This is what happens when you allow Citys to continually increase taxes. They find ways of wasting money, because they do not have the intestinal fortitude to do whats right, and reduce taxes, costs, manning etc; and look after the ***real*** interest of taxpayers.

Be sure you vote for these **wonders** in the next election.

Palopu, lets me and you run for seats on council. You can look after taxes and I'll get a snowmobile trail into town so we don't have to plow the roads!

Sometimes it is hard to be serious about these things. I mean who are we going to elect? Most "candidates" waving their hands and hollering "Elect me, look at me!" would increase our taxes even more. I don't see any business people running for election. They're all too busy trying to make ends meet, and see enough idiots in a day without making it worse by being on council.

I would not go downtown to bank or shop if I had to worry about a $30 parking ticket.

A reminder to turn over my space more quickly, or maybe a small fine for a major offender makes sense, but $30 is like getting cought for speeding or not wearing a seat belt. Can we get points on our drivers license as well...

I also think Queensway is the most stupid waste of gas design of any inner city street I've ever driven. Its timed to make you stop for each of three lights in three blocks and then only allows one direction to go at a time making the wait even longer. The stupid thing is they aren't even getting you to stop so you can window shop or anything. It just makes no sense esspecially when this will be the PG gateway version for our new container port....

"Let's see if I get this right. They want us to come downtown to shop, but they increase the amount of money it takes to park there by decreasing the meter time. Its like: Thanks for shopping here, now hurry up and get lost."

They must have asked the various Mall managers what they would like to see downtown ....

;-)

City Hall is about CONTROL, not about merchandizing ..... Where is the DBIA group .... they seem to have lost control as well ..... they had their $100+thousand study some years ago with that BonHomme from the Quebec Winter Carnival here spouting more pie in the sky stuff and since then they have done nothing that I can see ....

Oh, and then we have the winter lights committee or whatever put up lit star shape things, which look great (on one block only).... but all summer long??????? I do not keed to be reminded of snow flakes in the summer ...... even if you think they might magically turn into summer sky stars .....

I think people have given up .....

:-(

"Traffic study? I understand what a study is, but what is traffic? I've never seen any "traffic" downtown.
I remember decades ago when you couldn't find a parking spot downtown, but those days are long gone, along with the shoppers."

Wow!!!!!! I agree with YDPC for a change .... he must have gotten up on the right side of the bed ....

I never have a problem parking downtown, even on Farmers Market mornings. Usually gert a spot within half a block or even accross the street sometimes. I bank on Third andnever have a problem there either ... 3 to 4 parking space walks ... I reallize, there are no drive throughs .....

pitty .... ;-)

;-)

I wish the CIty would spend some time on better things ..... like where are the heavy industiral sites outside the airshed we should have had a decade ago by now??????

Where are the up to date standards for noise, air quality etc that need to be condiered at time of subdivision reviews ..???

Where are we with the pothole situation ????

I could go on and on .... this is the last "study" that was needed.... who gives staff direction and sets priority???? find that person and fire him/her ....!!!!!

"I don't see any business people running for election."

They have on several occasions in the past and proven to be duds and got booted out after the next election .... they can maybe manage their business ... but not set direction for a complex city .....

The reason that it's hard to get "good" people to run for office is that we are a wretched bunch of people when it comes to how we treat politicians (and referees). Would YOU want to have your character & reputation ripped to shreds for a part-time salary? If you think everybody at the city (staff & politicians) are overpaid retards, why don't you apply for work there...do a better job than what we have now, and get paid royally for your superior work.

Rick Nelson at Pine Centre must be enjoying this one.
Why not just hang a sign that says "PG's Downtown is closed for business"

"The reason that it's hard to get "good" people to run for office is that we are a wretched bunch of people when it comes to how we treat politicians "

So Buzz .... let's stay on topic.

1. Do you think we needed a downtown transportation study?

2. Do you think that the tranportation system in the downtown is stiffling growth there?

3. Do you think a $30 fine is required to increase the number of people wanting to come downtown?

4. Do you think that switching 4th avenue to 2 way traffic will increase the number of shoppers on that street?

5. Do you think additional parking meters will increase the number of shoppers or offices downtown?

A simple yes or no beside each number will suffice.

:-)

"end-of-trip facilities" ... is that a euphemism for a public washroom, or just a bicycle rack?

"New truck and dangerous goods routes;"

Where are the old dangerous goods routes??? I see no signage.

Owl:
I won't play the "yes" or "no" game. Much as I too prefer definite black & white answers when possible, I can't say "no", switching to 2-way traffic won't increase the # of shoppers on that street. The real answer is that having a good overall PLAN is important, because no planning = chaos and future problems and of course more criticism of the idiots who never planned properly in the past. You don't strike me as a shallow person based on your postings here, but I do find the "give me a yes or no" concept to be rather simplistic and unhelpful. (Although I will say that YES, $30 parking meter fines WILL deter me!!)

I aqgree with you Buzz on the "yes" and "no". I just thought that an explanation might not be necessary unless you had the time.

So, we could add a few more choices .... yes, no, maybe, depends, I do not know.

I do poorly on multiple choice questions. ;-)

So, are you any relation to Dan Rogers?

;-)

No relationship to Dan.....now if you want a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG explanation (and remain confused about what he said), then he's your man for sure!!!