To Mayor Gregor Robertson, Councillor Suzanne Anton, Councillor David Cadman, Councillor George Chow, Councillor Heather Deal, Councillor Kerry Jang, Councillor Raymond Louie, Councillor Geoff Meggs, Councillor Andrea Reimer, Councillor Tim Stevenson, Councillor Ellen Woodsworth, and whomever else this concerns,
I am contacting you to express how perturbed, upset, and annoyed I am over the new bicycle lane that was created recently on the Burrard St Bridge, by taking out one of the lanes originally used by cars.
I live on Beach Avenue, and you have greatly increased the time I spend driving to and from my home. One of the reasons I live on Beach Avenue is because it is… or I should say… because it was a quick drive to most the places I want to go to. And you have now changed that! Not to speak about the fact that more driving and stop-and-go traffic means more emissions, which is detrimental to the air quality!
You have turned Pacific Avenue into a parking lot. And there is now always stop-and-go traffic on it whenever I have gone on it since you put in the new bike lane.
Also, you have closed off Hornby access to Beach Avenue, when coming from Pacific Avenue off the Burrard St Bridge, so I now have to take an alternate route. (Not to mention that I suspect that all this will kill the businesses on Hornby St, between Pacific Ave and Beach Ave.)
Also, let me make something clear; I drive a car and I will never never switch to being a cyclist. This bike lane is in no way to my benefit. This bike lane is only harmful to me.
Not to mention that you wasted $1.4 million dollars of money on a project to pander to 28,000 cyclists a week, at the expense of all the other people on Vancouver.[1]
I suspect that there may be some on the council that are bike enthusiasts, but I really don’t care. I am not pleased that the government of the city of Vancouver is being used as a tool to push these kinds of agendas.
This whole thing has the “feeling” of an attempt at social engineering. And I don’t like it! I don’t usually vote in city elections, but if the new bike lane on the Burrard St. Bridge isn’t removed and restored back into a lane for cars, I will vote in the next election with the purpose of voting all of you out. And I will encourage others to do the same. (Although I don’t think others need much encouragement, since any neighbor I’ve talked to is quite upset over it too, and has similar sentiments to mine.)
[1] The figure of $1.4 million dollars for the cost of this so-called trial and the 28,000 cyclists per week is taken from a pamphlet I was give by a gentlemen who was protesting the new bike lane, while I was stuck in stop-and-go traffic on Pacific Avenue. Also refer to this article: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/article/250587–alternate-transit-options-a-go
If you feel the same way, please send an e-mail to: mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca and gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca
UPDATE: Just in case people weren’t aware of it, the Burrard St. Bridge already had 2 bike lanes, before this new bike was put in.
