Meeting Summary; July 5, 2012

Attendance

• Peter, Fiona, Antje, Dianne, Heather, Mark and Dorota Ergetowski
• Guests: Rick Amantea (Vice President - Park Royal Shopping Centre), Craig Cameron (West Van Councillor), Ron Adams (DNV resident), John Garratt (DNV resident)

Agenda Items

• Due to a lengthy discussion on two infrastructure items, it was not possible to address all of the items on the agenda so some will be referred to the next meeting which will not occur until 6 September as it was decided to cancel the 1 August monthly meeting because too many of the regular participants will be absent.

Infrastructure

• Sea-to-Sky cycling safety report meeting (Fiona, Ron)
  • Fiona attended the afternoon meeting held in this room yesterday afternoon (4 July) in which the SFU team presented the final results of their study on bicycle safety issues on the Sea-to-Sky highway from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler. It was mostly politicians at the meeting including MP John Weston , MLA Joan McIntyre, Federal Minister of State (Sport),Bal Gosal, a rep from MoT and the man in charge of organizing the 2012 GranFondo.
  • Fiona brought a digital copy of the report which was displayed and she led us through it. The report is too large a file to put on our wiki site so it was suggested that we put a link to it as it is apparently on an SFU website. The report recommended a number of remedial measures be undertaken to improve safety on the highway and estimated the cost to be just over $100,000.
  • It was suggested that it would appropriate for John Weston's Cycling Steering Committee discuss and follow up on this report. Also that we write a letter to MoT urging then to undertake the remedial measures and Heather offered to draft the letter.

• Planned cycling infrastructure improvements at Park Royal (Rick Amantea)
  • Rick passed out a 4-page package of plans showing various aspects of the planned developments for Park Royal South, espcially improved access by foot bike and bus.
  • He mentioned that bridge over the Capilano River is owned and maintained by Park Royal and that the plans for a pedestrian/bicycle crossing are still in the design stage and it will likely be two years before it is completed. Some issues to be resolved are whether the existing bridge can be widened to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists or whether a separate bridge is needed which would require renegotiating a lease with the Squamish Nation and resolving land owner ship of the RV park.
  • We expressed our concern about the safety for cyclists crossing the existing bridge and he said that he is working with the District of West Van on possible solutions including a signed bypass route over the new westbound bridge over the Capilano River.
  • We also suggested the planned north-south bike lanes starting at the new Marine Drive intersection be extended around the corner to connect with the Spirit Trail.
  • Rick seemed very receptive to a number of other suggestions including paving and widening the bridge at the west end leading to Ambleside Park.
  • There was support among the cyclists present for Councillor Craig Cameron's proposal for an east-west bike route (not necessarily bike lanes) through Park Royal South and green painted shared bike/car lanes were suggested.
  • Rick showed on one of the maps where it was proposed to locate a bike storage facility and we thought it was a good idea but that it didn't need to be inside a building, rather it could be in a sheltered and secure outdoor location. We also suggested bike parking stalls and various locations throughout the shopping centre.
  • Rick said he appreciated this discussion and wanted to follow-up with us on more specific details so we suggested that we would do a group ride through the Park Royal South then meet with him later and ride with him through the shopping center to discuss our proposals with him.
  • The group ride has been set of 0900 on Wednesday morning 11 July to meet under the Lions Gate Bridge by the RV park. We will see if Rick can make himself available to meet us a 1000 and Mark offered to bring an electric-assist bicycle for Rick to ride.

• East Keith Road update (Antje)
  • Antje informed us of the disappointing news that District of North Van council voted down (4-3) the proposed bike lanes on Keith Road East despite having previously voted in favour.
  • She offered to draft a letter to be sent to council urging them to reconsider this decision and approve the original plan put forth by District staff.

• Lower Lynn Town Centre cycling facilities (Antje)
  • Antje attended an open house on details of a planned major residential/commercial development east of Lynn Creek, south of Highway 1 and north of Main Street in the District of North Van.
  • She said this will be an opportunity to provide needed bicycle infrastructure and bike route connections in the area and we should continue to monitor and inform this planned development.

• West Van Cycling Network Implementation Plan - June 2012 (Peter)
  • Donna Howes presented it to West Van council meeting on 25 June and it was accepted.
  • Councillor Nora Gambioli, who attended a couple of our technical committee meetings, very astutely commented that waiting for funding ($40,000) to be included in the 2013 budget before any work is done is awfully slow. Raymond Fung, Director of Engineering and Transportation, said they would look for opportunities to get some of the Phase 1 work done under this current year's budget.