The City has decided that the Varennes Blvd and Valin St traffic calming project will not have bike lanes because there is opposition to the removal of on-street parking and the removal of areas to drop-off and pick-up children. The City notes that there are side streets where people can park and drop-off and pick-up children, but deems that unacceptable.
For Varennes Blvd the results were 36 per cent of respondents are supportive of removing on-street parking in exchange for cycling lanes, 47 per cent are not supportive, and 17 per cent are indifferent. Those that are indifferent would put either supportive or not supportive into a majority, and since that is the case the City should have picked safety and gone with adding bike lanes.
For Valin St the results were 44 per cent of respondents are supportive of removing on-street parking in exchange for cycling lanes, 42 per cent are not supportive, and 14 per cent are indifferent. This results in the same case as above, but then the City surveyed only the residents of Valin St to come to the final decision. With 64 per cent of respondents not supportive of removing on-street parking in exchange for cycling lanes along some sections of Valin St, and 36 per cent supportive. Which sealed the removal of bike lanes on Valin.
Since when is a major collector only used by residents that live on that street? It is not, it is used by almost everyone in the local neighbourhood. The City should not let residents of one street determine the safe access of everyone in the local neighbourhood.
If you are a local resident of this area, speak up by contacting the local councillor and project manager. Calling has a bigger impact than email.
Project Manager - Lindsay Thomas
613-580-2424, ext. 12625
Local Councillor - Matthew Luloff
613-580-2471
