A residents' group will rally at Coquitlam city council next week to protest plans to convert part of an old and well-traversed footpath into a paved lane.
This fall, the Oakdale Neighbourhood Association (ONA) voiced its concern to the city about the upcoming change after a subdivision proposal came forward for changing a one-acre site to six single-family lots at 606 Chapman Ave.
ONA president Ben Craig said while his organization isn't against the property redevelopment, it doesn't like how the city intends to treat the adjacent Pin Oak footpath, a route at least 50 years old that's one of four natural footpaths connecting the neighbourhoods of Oakdale and, to the north, Glenayre.
Transforming the natural footpath would be like "tearing the heart out of this neighbourhood," a resident complained in a recent letter to city staff.
Pin Oak footpath was named by Oakdale teen Celia Dossot three years ago during an ONA competition. Group volunteers erected signs at the entrances to each of the four footpaths to commemorate them and to give identity to Oakdale.
In response to the city's plan, ONA gathered more than 100 signatures to petition Pin Oak's conversion that - at the time - would have also seen it opened up to cars; an ONA meeting also drew some 40 opponents, Craig said.
On Tuesday, Craig said he got a call from the city, stating it had altered its plans to stop cars from using the lane; instead, it will now put removable bollards on either end.
Now, Craig said ONA is asking, what's the point of paving the path?
"We think it's a waste of money," he said. "Until the city can articulate why they're putting down asphalt, we believe they have another strategy in mind.
"We think that it will be easier for them to open it up to traffic eventually and that's a major safety problem for us, especially with all the families around here. We just want this footpath to be left alone, in tact, and in its natural state."
His sentiments were echoed by Dan Birsan, a teacher at the Mediated Learning Academy on Thompson Avenue. "This area is so beautiful. Why do they have to change it?" he asked while walking a class down the footpath.
Catherine Mohoruk, Coquitlam's manager of transportation planning, said the city has designated the corridor as a bike route in the Strategic Transportation Plan, which council recently adopted. And it will be using best practices to bring the path up to a universally accessible standard, which means a smooth, flat asphalt surface.
Mohoruk said the city may look at ways to "green the edge" of the path, once it's paved.
The public hearing to rezone 606 Chapman Ave. will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at Coquitlam city hall, 3000 Guildford Way.
