After councillors raised objections based on process and concerns raised by Grafton Road residents and BIHORA, council agreed have municipal planner Emma Chow submit a funding application to TransLink to help pay for a pedestrian and cycling pathway on the corner near Charlie’s Lane.
In late January, Chow presented an idea for the corner and a proposal to seek assistance from a new TransLink fund to improve cycling infrastructure in Metro Vancouver communities. The proposed project would tackle between 150 and 200m of roadway with a cost-estimate of between $250 and $300,000. If the grant application were successful, Bowen Island would be required to cover half the cost of the project. Council agreed she should set to work on the application.
In the weeks following that meeting, Grafton road residents near Charlie’s lane as well as the Bowen Island Horse Riders Association (BIHORA) made objections to the plan.
John Kerr, who lives on the corner, said the plan’s price-tag was too high and that it was too urban. Members of BIHORA complained that the project was not inclusive to the island’s horses and riders.
A decision on whether or not to pursue the funding for this project needed to be made this week, as the grant application deadline came to a close on Wednesday.
“I’m left with the feeling that we’re grant chasing,” said Councillor Allison Morse, noting that plans for a cross-island pathway will be laid out in the Integrated Transportation Master Plan, which won’t come to council until May. She said she felt the recent concerns brought forward by members of the public had not been adequately addressed, and added that while plans discussed meeting “path standards,” no such standards have been developed or approved for Bowen Island. “This is a paved path, which makes it easier for bikes, but when we met with MLA Sturdy he mentioned that in Whistler started as fine-compact or crushed materials to be biked or walked on.”
Councillors Maureen Nicholson and Gary Ander expressed their lack of support for similar reasons.
The community planner addressed each of the concerns brought forward by the objecting councillors.
If Bowen’s application is successful, Chow said, then an agreement to acquire the funds would be signed with TransLink some time in May. From there, the Municipality would have four years to complete the project. The funding, she said, would allow more geo-technical work to be done and ensure that the best possible solution be implemented.
“And we’re not obliged to spend the money if successful and I feel this is a community driven project, we did extensive public consultation over the summer and a cross island bike path was a the number one feedback we got” added councillor Melanie Mason.
Chow explained that the path’s safety standards refer to those laid out by the Transportation Safety Board Standards of Canada. These require that the path be paved, and if it were not, construction of it would not qualify for the TransLink grant.
She said horses would be considered welcome on the path.
“In the language for a lot of this funding it doesn’t come up because more communities don’t have horses,” explained Chow.
Councillor Sue Ellen Fast said that in the 20 years since a trans-Island pathway was first proposed, this was the real opportunity she has seen to deal with the corner at Charlie’s Lane.
Mayor Murray Skeels came forward to say he was not above “grant chasing.”
“At this point, without the funding from TransLink there really isn’t a project,” said Skeels. “But if we get a commitment from TransLink, we’ve got a leg-up on getting started with the process. And as Sue Ellen pointed out, this isn’t new. We’ve been working on this for 20 years.”
Skeels outlined the various chunks of trail that have been created to slowly connect across the island, and pointed to the Charlie’s Lane corner as the next critical piece.
After a lengthy discussion, council agreed that the Charlie’s Lane corner presented a serious safety concern that needs to be dealt with, and endorsed the plan to apply for funding to the TransLink Bicycle Infrastructure Capital Cost Sharing program. That application was submitted on Tuesday.
