Parents of young cyclists and other two-wheeled commuters in Squamish are worried about safety on the roads in town, and are unhappy with the quality of road-adjacent bike paths found around the District.
Local resident Ron Enns has instructed his daughter to "ride on the paved shoulder all of the time (both with and against traffic)."
Shawn Gosnell, president of the Squamish Trails Society (STS) stressed that the "lack of consistent paved shoulders often results in cyclists riding against the flow of traffic".
He added that the BC Motor Vehicle Act indicates that unless there is a bylaw stating otherwise, cyclists must ride in the direction of vehicular traffic.
Mayor Ian Sutherland said he had already been in touch with the authorities on the subject.
"We are asking the RCMP and our staff to give us clarifications on that," he said, "but, in fact, if a bike lane is a designated bike lane, it can be used for traffic in either direction, so, no, it is not illegal."
The Squamish Trails Society and others in the community wondered if and when the city will address the problems of inadequate paved shoulders, lack of law enforcement for speeding and illegal parking, as well as the lack of adequate street lighting on some segments.
Ideas are there, but Gosnell worried that "there is not a lot of political will," particularly after the death earlier this year of Coun. Ray Peters, who worked hard to improve District path infrastructure.
After moving to Squamish Gosnell tried to commute on his bicycle for a year and then gave up, frustrated by the dangers.
"I have lived 25 years in Toronto and then another 25 years in Banff. I never had to take the car to go to work. I figured I could do the same here, but, I was very disappointed with the number of close calls I had [with cars]. Some roads have bike paths on one side, others have them on both and some do not have any," said Gosnell.
But Gosnell is more concerned about kids commuting to school, often cycling on the wrong side of the road for safety reasons, and noted: "There are already memorial crosses on the worst section of Government Road; let's not add any more."
"If you ride with the traffic and there is no paved shoulder on that side of the road, you're putting yourself at risk with respect to vehicles squeezing by you closely and getting angry at you for riding on the road," said Enns. "If you try to reduce that risk by riding on the paved shoulder on the other side of the road against traffic, you could be ticketed by the RCMP."
"It is worse than ever for cyclists with the huge increase in dump trucks and construction vehicles on the road," added Gosnell.
Three years have passed since Doug Morrison wrote a letter to council stressing the issue. While improvements have since occurred, he suggested, "We seem to be somewhat stagnated".
The Squamish Trail Society sees the recent repaving and relined portion of Government Road between Mamquam Road and the Queensway as a step in the right direction. While they realize the District has plans for bike paths, and that budgets are tight, they suggested the following:
1. Enforce speed limits, including buses for the transit service. Bus schedules should be amended if need be to meet speed limits;
2. Provide a 1.5-metre bike path on east shoulder of Government Road from Shannon Estates to Garibaldi Way;
3. Provide a 1.5-metre bike path on both sides of Government Road from Shannon Estates to Garibaldi Way;
4. Eliminate Parking on the bike paths on major commuter routes such as Government Road/Queens Way/Buckley and Bowen Ave. between Brackendale Elementary and Squamish Elementary; and on Mamquam Road from Highlands Way to Government Road;
5. Place covered culverts as required and pave east side of Government Road to continue a bike path between Wain Place and Depot Road;
6. Pave the west side of Buckley Ave. between Wilson Cres. and Squamish Elementary to continue the bike path;
7. Provide a bike path for the south side of Mamquam Road from Highway 99 to the Squamish Valley Golf Course; and,
8. Create a committee to look at district wide non-motorized commuter deficiencies and solutions, such as lighting for Valleycliffe.
