Letter to Editor: Highway 1 overpass not a “sincere or realistic” project to support safe cycling

Dear Editor,

Re: Council talk Highway 1 pedestrian overpass Tuesday, Nov. 23

I am shocked that the City of Burnaby is considering such an expenditure for a recreational cycling trail over Highway #1 at Kensington. My question would be: why? For a few, and I mean a few people that would love to hear the roar of the cars as they cycle from Claude Ave to Burnaby Lake? This doesn’t seem a sincere or realistic plan by council to reduce GHG emissions and support more safe cycling in the city.

As an avid, and I do mean avid, cyclist who rides throughout the Lower Mainland it stuns me to see money being used so unwisely on such a project when so many other cycling gaps are glaringly obvious. Indulge me as I highlight some of the poorer elements of cycling infrastructure in Burnaby the city has neglected for many years or considers ‘suitable’:

• Poor quality tree root-pocked MUPs (multi-use paths) that rarely see any maintenance,

• Narrow MUPs on which cyclists are forced to share space with pedestrians, dog walkers, kids and strollers,

• No or poor lighting on such MUPS

• Poor quality ‘town centre’ cycling around the venerable town centers,

• Inadequate intersection space (think Willingdon/Lougheed) for the number of pedestrians and bikes and stroller and dog walkers that wait on these small corners,

• A lack of signage to find your way in Burnaby,

• Lack of bike buttons on cycle routes to cross busy streets safely,

• Only three cycling connections for cyclists to travel east to west in Burnaby,

• And last, but not least, NO safe cycling connections going from north to south in Burnaby. Nada.

This overpass project seems to be a misguided effort by council to appeal to a limited number of citizens. Most cyclists who will ride into Burnaby from Vancouver or New Westminster or Port Moody or Coquitlam want to get through Burnaby safely whether they are riding alone, in a group or with their family. But Burnaby is not a safe place to ride, because council cannot or will not turn its attention to addressing the big picture and creating safe, accessible cycling throughout the city for all ages and abilities.

If you were to access Burnaby Lake on Cariboo Road you would find it not cycle-friendly unless you are a very confident cyclist. I would say the same for the Sprott/Kensington intersection as well. But perhaps the new pool/ice rink being built at the CG Brown complex (Sperling/Sprott) will have designated safe cycling infrastructure (not a MUP) when this structure is built, something that can handle the potential cyclists coming through this area?

It pains me to say that to spend, at least $13M, (in 2022 dollars) for a recreational cycling trail that will provide no more than a limited connection for a limited number of cyclists or walkers within the city is deeply depressing. In my opinion, this overpass will not create the backbone connection cyclists desperately need to get across the city. It will not make cycling safer for the vast majority of people who ride and who want to ride. It will instead, provide a limited link to a limited number of cyclists no matter what direction they are coming from.

I urge all readers and cyclists to write, email and phone city officials and urge them not to build this project. Instead, I urge the City to address the city-wide lack of safe and accessible cycling infrastructure. We are in a climate crisis. If Burnaby is to reduce GHG emissions and is sincere about supporting more citizens to move out of their cars and onto bikes, this is not the project to take on. Let council members and the mayor know we need input into a city-wide master cycling plan that provides safe separated cycling for all ages and abilities. A plan that will link to New Westminster, Coquitlam and Vancouver. The city can and must do better for everyone in our community.

-Cathy Griffin, Burnaby resident

This submission has been edited for grammar and spelling.