The Point Grey Cornwall Greenway will mark the completion of the Seaside Path in the West Side of Vancouver. As with the rest of the Seaside Path, every year it will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors of all ages bringing customers to businesses in Kits and Point Grey.

The well funded and organized opponents of the Point Grey Cornwall Greenway are complaining that the city is moving too fast and want them to slow down the implementation of these badly needed improvements.

The reality is that the city is not moving very fast at all in the implementation of bike lane and greenway networks. A greenway along Point Grey and Cornwall was recommended way back in the 1995 Greenway Plan almost two decades ago. Bike lanes on Cornwall Point Grey were included in the city’s 1997 Transportation Plan way back when Philip Owen was Mayor. The plan also included bike lanes on several arterial roads including Commercial, Victoria, Kingsway, Nelson, Smithe, Howe, Seymour and Beach. Today, 16 years later, none of these streets have bike lanes yet. The Plan also included bike lanes on Burrard from the Bridge to 16th, Alma from Point Grey to 4th The 1999 Bicycle Plan also included bike lanes on 16th, 49th andKing Edward

1997 Transportation Plan Bike Lanes and Bikeways

Twelve years after the 2001 False Creek Pedestrian & Cycling Crossings Study recommended improvements to all three bridges, Burrard Bridge is the only one that has been improved.

So, by slowing down, what do the opponents of all ages cycling on Point Grey Cornwall mean? One year, five years, twenty years? Never?

Child cycling on Point Grey Sidewalk

Today’s children should be able to cycle safely around the city while they are still children.

Other cities are moving way faster than Vancouver in implementing separated bike lanes that are safe and comfortable for people of all ages including children and seniors.

Seville
Seville perfectly demonstrated the advantages of rapidly building cycling facilities. In four years, they invested $42 million to complete a network of 78 km separated bike lanes throughout the city. In addition, they also installed a 2,500 bicycle bike sharing system. As a result, bicycle mode share increased from 0.2% to 6.6% and cycling trips increased from 2,500 to 70,000 per day. Perhaps more importantly, it is now quite common to see children cycling in the city.

Sydney, Australia
The City of Sydney is investing $71 million over 4 years to build a 200km cycling network including 55km of separated cycleways. Currently one per cent of trips into the city are made on bicycle – the city aims to increase this number to 10 per cent by 2016.

Take Action

So, please encourage the City of Vancouver to build the Point Grey Cornwall Greenway now and speed up the implementation of other badly needed cycling improvements. Lets realize the health, safety, environmental, social and economic benefits of cycling as soon as possible! Tell them the problems that you have experienced along Point Grey & Cornwall and let them know what the Point Grey Cornwall Greenway would mean to you, your family and community.

• Address City Council on July 23. The meeting starts at 2pm. Email meetingcoordinator@vancouver.ca or call Lori Isfeld, at 604.871.6355, by 1 pm on Monday, July 22, 2013. More info…
• Write Mayor Gregor Robertson and Council <mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca>
• Write letters to the editor: https://bikehub.ca/media
• Sign HUB’s petition
• Sign the petition supporting diverting through traffic off Point Grey between Macdonald and Alma
• Share this post via email, Facebook and Twitter with family, friends and coworkers