The Editor,
Re. "Port Coquitlam cyclist killed in collision" (tricitynews.com, Feb. 29) and "Plenty of bike routes in Tri-Cities but plenty of gaps, too" (tricitynews.com, March 5).
The recent death of a cyclist and the release of HUB Cycling and TransLink's 2019 State of Cycling Report Card vividly illustrate why the death in Port Coquitlam was inevitable.
As an avid cyclist who commutes to work on the most dangerous routes one can imagine — Mary Hill Bypass, where there's less than a two-foot shoulder in places — I daily see the lack of political will required to make cycling a safe and efficient means of transportation.
The previous HUB report highlighted the poor or absent policies within our communities to support cycling. Our mayors and councillors capitulate to the automobile at the cost of injury and death to both pedestrians and cyclists.
Port Coquitlam has a master transportation plan that does not address segregated routes to protect cyclists. The Sheep Paddocks and Traboulay PoCo trails offer a picture perfect, safe, daytime family trail but they are gravel, poorly marked, have no lighting and provide no access to major recreational and business centres.
A triple-AA cycling system requires protection for all ages and simply does not exist in Port Coquitlam in a meaningful way.
Port Coquitlam also dismantled the cycling advisory committee and voted against a protected cycling lane along Kingsway. Cycling infrastructure fell short with the construction of the Coast Meridian Overpass, too, and now we see the results of lack of political will.
How many more deaths need to occur before the mayor and council acts? Time will tell.
Geoff Taylor, Port Coquitlam
