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Proposed cycling and pedestrian upgrades to the Point Grey–Cornwall corridor are stirring debate in Vancouver.

At the centre of attention is a series of potential bike routes along the more than four-kilometres corridor.

Pamela McColl, a Point Grey Road resident, said a petition supporting closure of the road between Alma and Macdonald streets to commuter traffic has gathered over 2,000 signatures.

“The interesting part about Point Grey Road is it is a unique problem because of the multiple users, so you’ve got cyclists on sidewalks, drivers in driveways, you’ve got pedestrians, and you’ve got speeding cars,” she told the Straight.

“But what makes Point Grey even more unique is the fact that it has a narrow street that has inconsistencies…and that is a particularly dangerous situation.”

The proposal to divert commuter traffic between Alma and Macdonald streets, which would bring the number of vehicles on the stretch from 10,000 a day down to a few hundred, is one of two options under consideration. The other scenario would see one lane of west-bound vehicle traffic and separated two-way bike lanes.

The rest of the proposed corridor includes a separated two-way bike lane on Point Grey Road—along with two-way vehicle traffic—between Macdonald and Trafalgar streets, and one-way streets for several blocks along York Avenue.

Jerry Dobrovolny, Vancouver’s director of transportation, said cyclist and pedestrian safety along the corridor has been “front of mind for many people”.

“We know that there’s tremendous concerns for safety by both pedestrians and cyclists, some of it reflected directly in collision data, some of it just perceived concerns,” he said in a phone interview. “And perception of safety is actually one of the key issues for us, because as we’re working towards these 2040 goals that require substantial increases in the number of trips by walking, cycling, and transit, perception of safety is what governs choice.”

A spokesperson for Putting Pedestrians First, Bev Ballantyne, told the Straight that she supports the traffic-calming measures proposed for Point Grey Road.

“It’s absolutely imperative that we do something,” she said. “We’re far behind the rest of the world, so if pedestrians and cyclists are truly the top of the heap in the city of Vancouver vis-a-vis transportation, then we need to start putting our money where our mouth is.”

The cochair of the Vancouver committee for HUB: Your Cycling Connection, Lisa Slakov, called the corridor one of the most unsafe for cyclists.

“We’re just excited to see this finally happening, and a HUB survey that we conducted last year…showed that our respondents listed the Point Grey corridor as the number-one that they wanted addressed from a list of different routes,” Slakov said. “So it really is a high priority for us.”

The proposed changes to the corridor have also drawn opponents in the neighbourhood, who are raising concerns about issues including the consultation process, and potential diversion of traffic onto other streets in the area.

Tomina de Jong believes that the city has not been doing an effective job of notifying residents of the potential implications associated with the bike route.

De Jong, who lives on Macdonald Street, is particularly concerned about the proposed changes to Point Grey Road west of her street, and the increase in traffic that is expected to occur on Macdonald.

“It’s adding to a road that’s not exactly got low numbers on it…and is, in my opinion, bound to cause congestion,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me, and, of course, I will personally be affected, but I see my neighbourhood being really affected.”

McColl disputed the criticism of consultation on the issue, stating that the city has had “tremendous input” from UBC and from stakeholder meetings during the last two years.

“In the last couple of months, the city has met with pretty well any group that invited them to come out: I think they’ve gone to over 50 meetings, and there has been vigorous and very thorough public consultation,” she said.

Dobrovolny stated the city has had “lots of feedback” on the proposal during two rounds of consultation, the first of which was launched in January, and the second in May.

“We’ve had lots of support, we’ve had lots of questions, we had concerns, and so we’re processing all of that,” he said.

“There’s a group that do not agree with the goals and principles and objectives of the project,” he added. “And that’s often the case with transportation. It becomes a polarizing issue.”

According to Dobrovolny, there has been “a lot of misinformation” about the plan.

“So a lot of the fires we’ve been putting out, the meetings we’ve been attending lately, is correcting assumptions that aren’t correct,” he said.

Cheryl Ziola, executive director of the Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce, told the Straight that sixty percent of the organization’s members prefer keeping Point Grey Road open for at least one-way traffic, according to a survey the chamber conducted in June.

Ziola said local businesses acknowledge that speed and safety are concerns along Point Grey Road, but the organization is advocating for the city to look at some alternative models for the corridor.

“I know that some of our members have suggested, ‘Well, why not speed bumps or traffic circles or something along those lines rather than something really drastic like closing the road down?’ ” she said. “So we just want city council to consider maybe some alternative views [and] ensure there’s a more fulsome consultation, because we’re still finding out from a lot of people [that] they haven’t heard about it.”

The proposal is expected to go before city council by the end of July.

Residents opposed to the proposed bike route are holding two days of rallies on Point Grey Road at Macdonald Street to call for more community consultation on the issue. The second rally is planned for Thursday (July 11) at 4:30 p.m.