By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON January 15, 2013 After four solid hours of debate and 13 delegations city council meeting in committee decided to go forward with a pilot project that will see bike lanes drawn out on Lakeshore Road between Seneca Avenue and run east to Guelph Line later this year.
Councillors Craven, Lancaster, Dennison and Mayor Goldring voted to send this to a city council meeting at the end of the month Councillors Meed Ward and Sharman were opposed. Councillor Taylor was not present.
Marking for bike lanes will be painted on Lakeshore Road and the middle lane now in place and used for left hand turns will be narrowed while the city runs a six to nine month pilot for putting bike lanes along all of Lakeshore Road.
The road markings will begin just as soon as the Region has completed their water main construction work which is expected to be sometime in September. The trial will continue on into the Spring of 2014 with a report to city council sometime in April of 2014.
If the trial proves to be an absolute disaster Councillors Sharman and Meed Ward will be in a position to say “told you so” and Councillor Dennison will just have to duck.
The meeting at which this decision was reached was long and arduous with almost every possible reason for putting in the bike lanes and just as many reasons for not putting them in.
There were many arguments made that need public disclosure – they will follow later in the week.
It’s a great idea and the investment is definitely worth it. Moreover, it’s part of the so-called Greenest City 2020 Action Plan introduced in my native Vancouver whose aim is to eliminate the negative impact that our actions have on the environment. And in this particular case the creation of protected bike lanes is one of the key decisions which, if put into practice, may produce the desired effect even in the short term.
One more bad decision by this council.Burlington is a city based on the automobile,what will happen to all the auto dealerships and there employees if the auto is forced off the streets.we have a bike path on the south side of Lakeshore rd. spend the money on upgrading this trail and leave the center turn lane as it is.
Prior to being elected this council used public engagement as an issue to get voted into office. Yes, the residents are inundated with public meetings and the public is consulted on everything. Unfortunately after engaging the public Council votes and one has to wonder if they even were listening to anything the residents had said at the public engagement meetings.
The bicycle lanes replacing turning lanes on Lakeshore is just another poor decision made by this council. The traffic downtown is a nightmare. This will be just one more reason for people to chose not to come downtown to shop, etc.
The bicycle lanes in Burlington are not safe. They are too narrow. In many places the lanes simply end. To make safe bicycle lanes the streets need to be widened….taking away a turning lane is not the answer….Bandaid solutions that will cause more problems. Cycling is not a mode of transportation in Burlington – it is a pastime and should be treated as such….
Cam Jackson is looking better and better.
I’ve told Mayor Goldring that this is a terrible idea. It’s a traffic issue and a safety issue. Traffic now is a mess along Lakeshore and will be backed up worse than ever with no turning lane. Motorists who are now less than tolerant with bikers will absolutely hate them now.