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Penticton’s Lakeshore Drive stays a two-way road for now

Council decides to apply for bike lane grants for Lake to Lake and Green Ave. but not Lakeshore
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A proposal to remove a lane on Lakeshore Drive to build a bike lane has been removed for now by council. (Monique Tamminga Western News)

Penticton city council has voted against turning Lakeshore Drive into a one-way road with a bike lane, for now.

At Tuesday’s meeting, and after a lengthy discussion about the iconic Lakeshore, council voted 4-2 against putting forward a grant to help fund removing a lane of traffic to build a separated bike lane.

Coun. Campbell Watt led the charge to take Lakeshore out of the grant applications, making a new motion.

In Watt’s motion, which passed 5 to 1, he said the city could evaluate whether Lakeshore Drive should be turned into a one-way in the future.

In the approved motion, council voted to submit applications to the federal Active Transportation Fund for:

• South Main (Lake-to-Lake Section 1), with design and construction in 2023, at an estimated total project cost of $1.4M;

• Green Avenue (Highway 97 to South Main Street), with design and construction in 2023, at an estimated total project cost of $2.2 million.

The recommendation from staff was to also apply for a grant to turn Lakeshore into a one-way road from Riverside Drive to Martin Street, with design in 2023 and construction of the bike lane in 2024, at an estimated cost of $1.6M.

The grants, if approved by Active Transportation, would fund up to 60 per cent of the projects.

READ MORE: Penticton wants to turn iconic Lakeshore Drive into a one-way to allow for bike lane

“You know I have led the charge in advocating for bike lanes but personally I think we are jumping the gun on Lakeshore,” said Watt before the vote.

“I think what we should be doing is community input first. Lakeshore is a one-off. We shouldn’t be seeking grant money and then take it to the public.”

Coun. James Miller said he remembers when the idea of turning Lakeshore Drive into a one-way was floated over 10 years ago.

“The public spoke loud and clear: Don’t mess with Lakeshore,” Miller said. “I know bike lanes are very dear to the members of this council but when a grant is there it shouldn’t mean you go for it because a portion of the project is paid for.”

Councillors Katie Robinson and Julius Bloomfield were in favour of putting the Lakeshore grant forward.

Bloomfield said he remembers the heated meeting in 2014 when turning Lakeshore into a one-way was first proposed.

“It was a very hot meeting with a lot of people saying don’t touch Lakeshore. It’s ironic we are here again 10 years later,” said Bloomfield.

For Robinson, she was thrilled to see Lakeshore turn into one way to put in a bike lane.

“I’m particularly excited about the Lakeshore. It’s long overdue,” said Robinson before the vote. “I walk three times a week down the boulevard. I dodge e-bikes and scooters. It’s extremely dangerous,” said Robinson.

The mayor agreed that the boardwalk becomes very congested and conflict with modes of transportation and pedestrians are common.

“There is no separation between bikes and pedestrians and bikes often weave in and out,” Robinson added.

In 2012, the city added a three-metre-wide multi-use path along the boardwalk on Lakeshore. But the report contends there have been complaints about pedestrian and cycle and scooter conflicts.

The city’s GM of infrastructure Kirsten Dixon presented the grant proposals to council.

Following the concerns about Lakeshore, she suggested that there will be other opportunities to submit applications for Lakeshore.

The city will go ahead with applying for grant funding for the Lake to Lake and Green Avenue bike lanes.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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