A Belcarra cyclist says a solution to the problem of parking congestion around Sasamat Lake has created a safety concern.
Colleen MacDonald, who authored a book about family-friendly cycling routes in the Lower Mainland, said plastic bollards installed by the city of Port Moody along Bedwell Bay Road are making it unsafe for cyclists. That’s because the bollards run along the middle of the paved shoulder, limiting space on one side to grass and gravel culverts and to speeding traffic on the other.
“I was dismayed,” MacDonald said of the appearance of the bollards in mid-August.
She said as other Metro Vancouver cities are moving to create safer environments for cyclists, PoMo's move felt “like a step back.”
But Kim Law, Port Moody’s acting general manager of engineering and operations, said the city had little choice in dealing with the ongoing issue of cars parking illegally along the shoulder of the road as it winds along the lake’s western flank. He said when signs and increased enforcement of parking restrictions didn’t work, physical barriers had be to put in place at a cost of up to $30,000.
Law said putting the bollards along the outer edge of the shoulders wouldn’t be a deterrent to parking vehicles and placing them too close to the travel lane would expose them to damage from snow-clearing equipment in the winter. He added the space still available to cyclists is consistent with other, narrower sections of the route from Ioco to Belcarra, where they’re often forced to ride in the traffic lane anyway.
Léon Lebrun, of Trails BC, who also leads groups of cyclists on tours around the Lower Mainland, said the bollards discourage less experienced cyclists who might not be comfortable riding on the road.
“They didn’t think ahead,” he said of the city’s solution, adding a longer-range vision that encourages active transportation is needed.
Lebrun suggested more pavement could be added to the outside of the shoulders to make them wider to safely accommodate cyclists or the city could explore building a multi-use path away from the road that links Ioco and Belcarra.
“The whole focus should be on improving the cycling network,” he said.
Law said that may be a long way off as Port Moody’s master transportation plan prioritizes improved cycling facilities in the city’s urban core, along Murray and St. Johns streets as well as the Shoreline Trail.
MacDonald, who has lived in Belcarra since 1976, said the parking along Bedwell Bay Road is usually only a problem about eight weekends a year. Making that route less safe for cyclists year round is akin to slaying an ant with a sledgehammer.
She suggested the introduction of paid parking to the park, along with improvements to the cycling infrastructure, might encourage visitors to ride there and leave their cars at home.
