It will be built.
The proposed Hornby Cycle Track has passed another critical test, now that yesterday’s open house at Pacific Centre is over.
After Council considers the report from Engineering likely to be delivered in early October, it could be a reality by Christmas. Unless I completely missed something.
Namely: is the business community so pissed off, and so united, that they must be appeased by City Hall?
Some issues become more important because of the forces they unleash than what they’re actually about. When a constituency as critical as the downtown business community believes they have been slighted, ignored or discounted, then they in turn demand respect. They will want to see their power acknowledged – and if that means deep-sixing a bike lane, then that is what, under the right circumstances, they might get – if the political leadership decides it’s worth the price. Or if the media frames the issue as, say, ‘anti-business’ rather than ‘pro-cycling.’
That seems to have happened in Toronto, where a proposed lane on Jarvis Street was framed as a ‘war on the car’ and opposed by suburban councillors who turned it into something of a culture war.
But that hasn’t happened here. In part because the Engineering Department has done a brilliant job in designing the lane to address most of the legitimate issues raised by affected businesses. In part, because there’s a recognition by the more realistic members of the downtown leadership that the momentum for a cycle-friendly city can’t be stopped. And in part, because Vision Vancouver is in way too deep on this one to reverse course.
The price of appeasement would be very high indeed. While a small segment of the business community would be pleased if Hornby was ‘sent back for further study’ – a message to staff to kill it off until after the next election – the cycling community would be mightily pissed. And they’d have a martyr cause to fight. Not a pleasant prospect for a Council that wants to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world.
And while a single cycle track might not be the greatest loss politically, it is an indicator of whether a lot of other big issues are being taken seriously – by politicians of any stripe. Care about climate change and greenhouse gases? Concerned about obesity and health? Committed to plans that call for transportation alternatives? And yet you can’t even take the heat to build a single bike lane? Then you can’t be taken seriously.
And the same applies to opposition councillors and potential candidates. While it’s easy to citicize the process – the refuge of those who don’t want to seem to be anti-cycling – this one requires an up-or-down vote. And at this point, it’s up all the way to completing the network of separated routes through downtown.
UPDATE: Michael Alexander pens an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun, making the case that there is more than sufficient parking along Hornby Street. It just needs better signage and up-to-date technology to match supply and demand.
I lived in Ontario at the time, but we went through a similar political “debate” about banning smoking in public buildings. Bar owners raised a stink that their revenues would plummet; that it would be the end of the bar industry as we knew it. It took some courage on the part of politicians to finally pass the laws and in the end the bar owners realized that they had been fearing nothing but the unknown all along.
I truly believe the same will happen here. Other cities have installed separated bike lanes and they love what’s happened to their streets. There is absolutely nothing that makes Vancouver fundamentally different – some people are just scared of the unknown. Once the bike lanes are installed and people see that it’s not the end of the Hornby businesses, the next one will be much easier politically.
And even if, by some weird thing, the bike lane doesn’t happen — it’s worth noting that the Jarvis Street bike lane got built this summer. (It goes basically from my apartment to my office; I love it so.) Sometimes waiting a year for the fire to die down changes everything.
I thought I saw you at the event there. I thought it was funny, though, how for the second time they hosted a bike event at a spot with no bike parking outside.
I’m glad they hosted the second meeting and I got all my questions kindly answered by the staff.
This yellow helmet seems very cumbersome.
Perhaps downtown Vancouver retailers need to seriously revisit their cherished, old retailing models. Denver might be onto something to revitalize their downtown that includes customers who are pedestrians, transit users and cyclists.
http://thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/european-retailers-prosper-from-people-streets-downtown-vancouver-retailers-trudge-along-with-1960s-retailing-models/
I’m so pleased to hear about the progress of the Hornby bike lane. I moved from Vancouver to Toronto in May and can only dream of the day when the City of Toronto moves as decisively and boldly on these issues. The Jarvis bike lane, while a good addition, is only a small piece added to a very patchy “network”. I find it difficult in Toronto to use bike lanes entirely to get anywhere in the city, while in Vancouver it was much easier as they all connected and the signage more useful.
Hopefully by the time I move back to Vancouver there will be several new separated bike lanes I can ride on. We need more good Canadian role model cities on these issues.
Thank you Gordon for your support on the Hornby separated bike lanes. I agree, the 2nd public open house had a good reception and seemed primarily supportive; and the City did a good job of responding to concerns both through the street design, and through their presence and demeanor at the open house.
If anyone reading this owns or manages a business that would like to show their support for increased bicycle infrastructure, the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition is putting together a list of “Businesses for Bikes”. Please contact Erin O’Melinn: erin@vacc.bc.ca
Membership is free.