Bowen Island may be able to get tens of thousands of new dollars a year from Translink to help maintain its roads, municipal council heard this week.
The news came out of a workshop on Bowen’s Integrated Transportation Master Plan (ITMP) Monday (Nov. 21).
Municipal staff started working on the plan in January of this year and have conducted background reviews and extensive public engagement, including a citizen questionnaire with more than 20 per cent of all households responding, held public information sessions and neighbourhood meetups.
The plan’s main objectives include facilitating active transportation and promoting alternate forms, improving on-island bus service and regional connections, managing parking and improving safety at Cardena Drive and Bowen Island Trunk Road, the island’s busiest intersection (see story page 1).
Municipal community planner Emma Chow told council there are currently more than 70 km of roads on the island, a little more than half of which are publicly maintained, but only 1 km of sidewalks, primarily in the Snug Cove area, and no cycling network.
“We are quite car-dependent on the island,” but much more balanced in terms of using buses and walking for trips going off-island, said Chow.
The overwhelming majority of greenhouse gas emissions on the island come from personal transportation, primarily light cars and trucks, she noted.
The key themes emerging from the public consultation were:
• Developing a multi-use path for pedestrians/cyclists across the island;
• Encouraging alternative transport (taxis/low-speed vehicles)
• Improving regional connections (BCFerries, water taxis)
• Improving on-island bus service (more evening service, expanded service areas to areas
Chow noted that Bowen Island is not part of Metro Vancouver’s Major Roads Network, which provides funding from Translink to municipalities to help maintain major roads. The network is up for review in near future and Chow said this could be an opportune time to pursue funding. Bowen Island Trunk Road could qualify for up to $60,000 per year under the program.
On the subject of bus service, a review by Stantec recommended that Translink increase evening service on the island but cut the Mt. Garner run.
“The really important thing is to get Translink and BC Ferries to work together,” Chow said, prompting chuckles from councillors.
Chow noted that the municipality doesn’t currently have a parking management strategy and intends to establish one as part of the ITMP. She added that if the municipality wants to encourage alternate forms of transportation, it needs to make a push to make parking less attractive and have it pay for itself – “that we don’t subsidize it as a community.”
Mayor Murray Skeels noted that as electric car technology improves, private vehicles will no longer be as much of an environmental problem.
“Downsizing parking because of CO2 emissions might be more of a short-term solution,” he said.
Council pushed proposals for exploring a non-profit social taxi business model and cyclo-tourism strategies off the list of priorities for the ITMP and added emergency transportation considerations.
Council indicated favouring a balanced approach to all the prioirities on the plan rather than focusing on specific elements.
Municipal staff will continue their research over winter, including mapping a proposed pedestrian cycling network, and conduct a public open house to get feedback on draft plan, including a timeline for implementation, next spring. Council will see the first draft to the report by the end of March or early April 2017.
MAIN ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN:
Active transportation facilitation (biking, walking)
On-island bus optimization
Alternative modes promotion
Cardena safety improvement
Regional connections improvement
Multi-modal integration
Snug Cove parking management
