To the dismay of many, our municipal council has approved the construction of a parking lot on municipal lands Lot 3, that’s the beautiful forested area that most of us think of as the edge of Crippen Park on the fish ladder side.
Now, as you have no doubt read on the front page of this paper, our councillors were not in unanimous agreement over this decision, and some, who voted in favour of it, offered the assurance that this lot is only a temporary measure and will eventually be used some greater purpose than the placement of cars.
Personally I like to live in denial of the fact that there is a parking problem in the Cove. I am of the school of people who says thing like, “building parking lots just encourages people to drive.”
In the summer, before I came back to work, I would take the required time to walk down Miller Road with my kids (this could sometimes take hours) and make a day of getting milk from the General Store or picking something up from the post office. Now, though, I drive. I drive WAY TOO MUCH. Trying to get to work on time. Dropping one kid at playcare, another at Bowen Children’s Centre (both of which are parking fiascos in their own right), and parking in front of my office for longer than I am technically allowed.
As a driver in this context, the “parking crunch” I hear of so much at council does not often affect me. I know it exists, mostly for people trying to leave their cars in the Cove and walk on to the ferry. Or occasionally, on a busy Saturday (summers are worse of course) when people are piling into restaurants and shops, the library and whatever festival is happening on the Bowfest field or the Union Steamship lawn.
So, from my perspective, parking is not a persistent problem in the Cove. It is, however, one that is growing alongside our car-dependent population.
I am grateful to those members of BIMTAC (Bowen Island Transportation Advisory Committee) for taking on the necessary long-term planning of transportation infrastructure through the ITMP (Integrated Transportation Master Plan). If this council and future councils take the steps to fulfill that vision, I think it will help alleviate the dreaded parking pressures.
I do think that at some point, it could serve us well to consider options for taking some of the pressure off of the Cove, and relieve people of the need to take numerous daily trips to it. The idea that this one little village serves as a point of connection for the community, spread across the 52 square kilometers of this island, is lovely… but I’m not convinced it’s realistic or entirely healthy.
As always, your input and rebuttals are welcome.
