The bike route from North to South in Burnaby is poetically named the Sea to River Bike Route. I could suggest a lot of other names. “Death-defying route” springs to mind. As does “Suicide Run bike trail.” And “Are you Kidding Me?”
Let me take you through my morning commute, along the Sea to River Bike Route.
The first part of my route is heading west along the mostly-fabulous Central Valley Greenway (CVG). Apart from the dodgy bit on Stillcreek Avenue, this part is heavenly. The exercise endorphins kick in and I start to sing loudly and discordantly.
Then I hit Gilmore.
At this point I have to turn left (south) onto the Sea to River Route. Only trouble is – despite the fact that the two major bike routes in Burnaby intersect right here – apparently no transportation planner has ever thought that cyclists might want to switch bike routes at this point. And while the Central Valley Greenway route is on the sidewalk, the Sea to River Bike Route is on the road. So there is no safe way or sensible way to turn left (south) onto the Sea to River Bike Route. The problem is even worse coming home, when it is completely impossible to safely turn right (East) from the Sea to River onto the Central Valley Greenway. (It is equally impossible to turn left.)
There is, in short, no safe way to switch from the Central Valley Greenway to the Sea to River bike route, no matter which way you are going.
If this was Montréal, someone would have figured it out, and all kinds of steps would have been taken to make the Sea to River bike route safe: signs, painted directions on the road, etc. But sadly, it’s Burnaby, and cyclists have no option but to wing it, thereby putting themselves in danger. And because there is no signage, motorists are often surprised when cyclists suddenly hop onto, or off, the sidewalk. As any cyclist will tell you, it is NOT a good idea to surprise motorists.
The Scariest Part of Gilmore
From that point, it’s all uphill – literally and figuratively. Heading south on Gilmore, the traffic gets worse the higher you go. There is no designated bike lane, so you have to settle for what is laughingly referred to as “shared lanes” – aka “cyclists beware, because everyone sharing the lane with you is faster and MUCH bigger than you.”
By the time you get to the intersection of Gilmore and Canada Way, the Sea to River bike route has assumed the nightmarish dimensions shown in the photo at the beginning of this post. Bikes are squashed in between buses and cars, in too-narrow lanes, and it’s really, really dangerous. The only solution to make this route safe for cyclists would be a physically separated bike lane.
After this Sea to River bike route improves, as one can ride off-road from Canada Way to Kincaid. Even there, there are issues: you’re on a sidewalk, shared with pedestrians and people lining up for buses – and worst of all, motorists zooming in and out of car parks, apparently blissfully unaware that they are crossing over a bike route. Some signs might help them remember.
After that, the roads are quieter. But it would still be WAY better if there were – at the very least – painted bike lanes. After all, the Sea to River bike route is one of the only two north-south connectors for bikes in Burnaby – would it be too much to ask for just ONE lane? I can attest to the fact that there are many, many cyclists on this route – pretty impressive, given how scary it is.
Just past Kingsway, things are looking good, as one cycles along a quiet road (Patterson) – but then suddenly, a short way after Patterson Skytrain, the entire route is simply blocked off.
The route has been blocked off completely like this for MONTHS. What used to be my route to work, now looks like this:
What drives me crazy about this is the complete, total, utter lack of consideration for the fact that this is the only safe way for hundreds of cyclists to get to and from work.
Imagine if they completely closed off Highway 1, without warning, without explanation, without telling motorists when it would open again, and without making provision for an alternative route!
Governments would fall, heads would roll – but they can treat cyclists like just so much irrelevant garbage, like we’re not even people, let alone tax-payers, and completely get away with it. Deep yoga breaths …
Back to my commute. I scoot around this impediment, on the sidewalk because there’s no alternative, carefully dodging strollers and seniors, and get to calmer waters. It’s smooth sailing along Maywood and McKay, which are quiet streets.
But here’s the kicker: at the foot of the intimidatingly steep McKay, the Sea to River bike route simply … STOPS.
Hello, City of Burnaby, news flash: there is NO RIVER at the foot of McKay. There’s a dead end. So why is it called Sea to River bike route? Shouldn’t it be “Sea to Dead End in the Middle of Nowhere Route?”
At this point, I am just one tantalizing kilometer away from the next major bike route, Kent. I am also a slightly shorter distance from my workplace on North Fraser Way.
Another news flash for the City of Burnaby: there are hundreds of cyclists working in the new industrial complex on North Fraser Way. Would it be too much to ask that you provide us with a safe way to get to work – especially given that transit options to this area are very limited?
In any event, after the Sea to River bike route simply ends, I wend my way through a tortuous route that includes alley-ways and a narrow, unlit forest crossing (fun in summer, but scary in the icy dark of winter, especially now that homeless people have moved in).
Once I am safely through the forest, I cross a steep, narrow pedestrian bridge with limited visibility and low railings. This is the only relatively safe way for cyclists to reach the river, but it’s really not safe enough. I have no idea if this is legal, but given the total lack of guidance or interest from the city of Burnaby, I just hope for the best.
At the other side of the pedestrian bridge you get to choose between a hairpin U-turn, or another forest foray. If you choose the forest (again unlit and narrow, and also featuring an elevated train track crossing), the city has erected an interesting agility test: a turnstile just half a meter away from a bog.
Sad to say, Maggie (Mrs. Average Joe Cyclist) failed this test on her first commute on the Sea to River bike route. Her pannier clipped the turnstile, causing her bike to stop suddenly, while she sailed gracefully over the handle bars and hit the paving. Miraculously, she escaped relatively unscathed, albeit severely shaken up. If she’d been badly hurt, I’d be even angrier than I already am …
The last bit of my route to work is on Sea to River bike route is on Glenlyon Parkway and North Fraser Way, two very broad roads that for reasons unknown have no bike lanes. How is it possible, in this day and age, that new industrial areas can be developed without so much as a thought for the existence of cyclists?
Come on, City of Burnaby … surely you can do better than this?
POSTSCRIPT:
Here is the City of Burnaby’s response about the Sea to River Bike Route.
On a more positive note: here are some posts about trails that really ARE cycling trails.
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Sounds like…fun. I’ve only ridden the portion between Still Creek and Canada Way, but that was by accident when I got lost trying out the Central Valley Greenway just after it opened. These blocks seemed too busy to me to be worthy of being called a bike route… I took the full lane when riding in this part, although I don’t know how that would have been received by other road users if I did it during a busy time.
I wonder if that area might get some changes as part of the widening of Hwy 1… at least for the part that crosses over Hwy 1. This old 2006 document
http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/gateway/reports/Gateway_PDR_013106.pdf
says:
“Accommodation of cyclists and pedestrians across Highway 1 at all interchanges and overpasses”
LOL – lost on the CVG – that used to happen all the time. Even now I keep coming across puzzled tourists with rental bikes and maps. But is is a lot better, with more signage. It’s really a GREAT route from Burnaby to Science World, except for Still Creek, which falls under the umbrella of “what were they thinking?” This afternoon I went through Still Creek at 5.30, and was passed by THREE GIANT black Ford F350’s, all with tires squealing. All driven by guys who seem to think that cyclists are morons at best, insane at worst – and definitely expendable.
Ah and oh wow, with a bit of google, I read the 2004 city of burnaby recommendation for building the route. Looks like it called for wider curb lanes from Lougheed to Canada Way.
http://www.city.burnaby.bc.ca/admin/Asset2232.aspx
That would have been great … pity it didn’t actually happen.
I feel bad for you having to take that route. Burnaby’s Bikemap has warnings about that section of the route.
I still get lost on the CVG. If only I could afford a 705 with all of Metro Vancouvers bike routes preloaded. It has greatly improved since I rode it last year and it’s much more enjoyable with the fat tires my touring bike has compared to the skinny race tires I used to ride.
I had quite a bit to say, so I put it in a post on my blog.
Thanks for putting the link to what you had to say. I wanted to do it myself, because you have a lot of interesting stuff to say, but I am still new at the techie side of blogging, and couldn’t figure out how to do it! I tried putting a Trackback on your site, but have no idea if that had any effect!
The only reason I don’t get lost on the CVG any more is because I have ridden it countless times – it’s the perfect route to downtown from North Burnaby. I LOVE that it’s all off-road. And as you say, it is now WAY better than last year (when signage was often pieces of paper stuck to light poles!)
Note that Moreno is leading an assessment ride of this route
From: Moreno Zanotto
X-Yahoo-Profile: zanottomoreno
Mailing-List: list vacc-burnaby@yahoogroups.com; contact
vacc-burnaby-owner@yahoogroups.com
“Evening,
So far, the general consensus has been for a weekend ride. Weekday evenings are looking to be undesirable because of the early sunset, and difficulty with making the 6pm start. As for the September date, a new priority, the Social Sustainability Strategy, along with our BH/CH stakeholder involvement, is
claiming a large portion of our time until early October. I would like to have the workings of a report by our next meeting, with submission and delegation appearance to the Transportation committee happening by the end of October or November.
S2R Cycleway Assessment Ride:
Date: Sunday, October 3
Time: 9-12am (approx.)
Meeting Location: North Burnaby, Carleton Ave @ Triumph Street (Gilmore Primary School)
Please bring a copy of the Burnaby Cycle Map, a note book, and a pen. We may go overtime…so please bring a snack and water. I will bring a camera for photos/videos. After the ride, we can go out for lunch. The pace will be easy (as the topography allows…), with frequent stops to discuss ideas and take
photos/videos.
Everyone is welcome to take part in our first assessment ride!
Thank-you,
Moreno”
Thanks for posting this here, Bill. Hopefully a lot of people will come out and help Moreno with this. More power to him.
And going south from Marlborough to Canada Way is problematic.
Quiet and good south to Hastings. Light switch for riders.
South of Hastings has a somewhat problematic curb with a ridge of tarmac next to a pad of gravel to let locals park.
Fine, but pushy drivers honk and the fearful cyclists bump over onto the gravel pads, in stead of letting the car move to the left and go around.
Uneasy 4-way intersection at Parker and Gilmore where no cars seems to know the 4 way procedure and you take your life in your hands crossing the intersection with the whizzing cars never seeing a bike that had stopped, waited and then proceded in turn.
Same tarmac water barrier and gravel pad south of Parker.
Lots of signs to slow down beside Kitchener school , but few do.
Difficult Sawbuck 4-way stop at Douglas where all cars are more intent of ramming through than watching any other traffic. Lights, reflective material and a high alertness would be useful here.
Then the death blind corner of First and Gilmore with cars pouring out of First T-intersection with no regard to cars..
This part of Gilmore had potholes from its steepness washing the underlying bed out. Mostly fixed but hell in the dark as you hurtle down.
Many cars are turning onto Harrison and then Brentwood at the foot of the hill, and trying to do so quickly as there is no turn signal, and a constant stream of cars up and down Gilmore at that point.
Then to Lougheed avoiding the various sunking pipes potholes at the intersection that trip pedestrians as well.
Off to the GVG hoping that no pedestrian will dart out, nor the impatient commuter will decide that THEIR right of way comes first..
Maybe not knocked over that day to do it again tomorrow, touch wood.
Thanks for finishing off the route problems – I was hoping someone would do that. Sounds like the rest is just as bad. Wonder why Burnaby doesn’t like cyclists?
It is Halifax street, not Harrison street above.
Halifax is a narrow one-lane-each-direction at this point but further east it becomes the 2-lanes-each-direction as it meets Douglas and goes on to Brentwood and Willingdon.
Is the crush of cars coming along and doing the quick blindish turn going to Willingdon for north routes or south to Freeway? I haven’t followed any to see which way they turn or if the merchants of Willingdon are any lure.
The Still Creek portion of the CVG is off-road. You’re supposed to go through the pedestrian crossing at Gilmore & Still Creek, then veer left onto the nice pavement, for a scenic trip alongside Still Creek proper, and you can go all the way under Canada Way from there.
Am I misunderstanding something? Still Creek is indeed murderous–I work right there just east of Gilmore, and I’m quite sure someone is going to get badly hurt or killed just crossing the street to get lunch. I’m just saying you can avoid it on your bike.
Yes, the part you’re talking about is idyllic. The bit I’m talking about is just east of Costco, to Douglas road. First you’ve got a construction zone that’s been labelled as temporary since the CVG opened. Then just east of the Still Creek recycling depot you’re back on the street, and it’s the very worst part of the whole CVG. The road is full of bone jarring potholes. The whole area is light industry, so in the morning the bike lane is full of idling giant trucks being loaded up. There’s also all the workers and shoppers, most of whom favour roaring around in black F350’s. Then you get to the traffic lights at Douglas. If you’re during hours, you can be sandwiched between 18 wheelers also exiting Still Creek. If it’s after hours you’re stuck at the lights, because they run on weight sensors and won’t change unless a car arrives. The pedestrian crossing switch is completely inaccessible from the bike lane. So you’re left with either waiting for a car, running a red, or getting off the bike and becoming a pedestrian!
If the light won’t change for your bike, then you can treat it as an inoperative signal. This means you behave as if it were a stop sign.
Oh, good to know. I have waited patiently (and then impatiently) for ages at times, and then finally pushed my bike over to the side of the road and hit the pedestrian buttom.
So true about the Sea-to-River bikeway. I would expect these are issues that affect most of bike commuters in the Glenlyon business park every morning and after work. When the bike route dies on McKay, I take the alley’s to get to the forest trail, but have come face-to-face with a few cars in these alleys because they are far too narrow to see around the corner. Then, when I get to Patterson, I have to do a short bike ride down the sidewalk on the wrong side of the road (far too dangerous to cross Patterson). Although the forest path is a rush to ride in the sunshine, it is outright dangerous in the dark. Reminds me of cycling through the UBC endowment lands at night… you never know if someone might jump out at you.
As for the turnstile after the pedestrian bridge, I’ve just about gone in the ditch myself. You say there is a one metre space between the turnstile and the ditch… well, it’s really .5 metres when you take into account the chunk of cement around the turnstile, and the slippery grass on the edge of the ditch!
And lastly, crossing the railroad is never pleasant… one side is okay and relatively flush to the ground, but the other side is pretty tough to ride over unless you’re really good on your bike. I’m always afraid my wheel will get caught in the railroad line or it’ll just slip off (and where is the sign or light that says a train is coming?).
Perhaps a petition around the Glenlyon business park is needed before the City of Burnaby takes these issues seriously.
Thanks for your response and input!
I think a petition would be a great idea. There are hundreds of cyclists in the area – at least 50 at Ballard alone. The challenge would be how to find them all. Better to do that, than wait until some woman cyclist gets assaulted in the forest.
I have also had near misses with cars in that alley way – especially coming up Patterson and turning into the alley way.
I think you’re right about that gap only being .5 m – I’ll amend it in the post.
When Maggie goes over the railway line she is afraid of falling, so she gets off and pushes the bike over. I think it is dangerous that she is alone in the forest and dismounted from the bike – it makes her an easy target.
I do think figuring out how to link Sea to River with Kent is complex. However, isn’t that what we pay taxes for – so that some well-educated engineer will take the trouble to figure things out to keep the taxpayers alive? We are residents in Burnaby, and our property taxes are really high – I think it’s reasonable to expect basic services such as a safe way to get to work.
Also, it’s a no-brainer (and really cheap) to paint bike lanes and throw up a few “share the road” signs on Glenlyon and North Fraser Way. The roads are easily wide enough. And they are heavily used by cyclists every working day.
I completely agree that the sea to river ‘bike route’ along gilmore is awful – all they did was paint bike symbols on a busy, narrow, 4 lane major road, with no provision for cyclists at all. The city should be forced to either remove this as a bike route on their maps, or provide a separated bike route – there is no way this is in any way a bike route. It just makes the city feel like they achieved some goal of adding so many km of bike routes or drawing nice routes all over a map, with no consideration of actually accomodating bikes on the street.
Well said, Adam – it never occurred to me – but this seems to be precisely what they did!
What do you think would happen if I “took the lane” in that busy part on Gilmore? I’m kinda tempted to try it now that I have my tail-camera.
I think you would probably get away with it – I’ve done it myself. But I wouldn’t encourage it in case you got hurt!
Never heard of a tail cam – that’s pretty cool!
Joe,
Thanks for your e-mail requesting a City of Burnaby response to your blog. I am happy to provide my thoughts. While any project is a team effort, the Sea-to-River Bikeway project (including the things you’re angry about) is primarily my responsibility.
For those of you who don’t know me, I am an all-season all-weather all-roads cyclist, and have been for more decades than I care to remember. That doesn’t mean that I enjoy cycling in traffic, or expect others to do so. But it does mean that most of your criticisms did not come as a surprise to me. I’ll try to comment briefly on each of them, including those made by others on your blog, from north to south.
Yale to Hastings. No criticisms.
Hastings to Douglas. Bill Lee’s critique on your blog is actually of Gilmore Avenue, which is not the Bikeway. The Sea-to-River Bikeway in this area is one block to the east, on Carleton Avenue. This is a quiet local street which we further calmed with traffic circles and a bike-permeable centre median at Parker.
Douglas to Lougheed. This section has bike lanes for most of its length, though they get pinched at the Lougheed intersection where the road isn’t wide enough. This will get remedied, though I don’t have a specific date.
Lougheed to Still Creek. No criticisms.
Still Creek to Canada Way. Council approved construction of the Sea-to-River Bikeway in 2004. The concept for this section was wide curb lanes and a parallel Urban Trail (which is our term for a multi-use trail, like the CVG). By that time, it was already clear that the Province’s Port Mann / Highway 1 project was going to alter cycling conditions throughout central Burnaby. It was believed that any work that we did on either side of the highway might get ripped out within a few years by the Highway 1 project. As such, completion of this segment of the Bikeway was deferred. Even today, there is still some uncertainty associated with the Highway 1 project, and what the Province might be prepared to do at the Gilmore overpass. So we’re still “on hold”, but we haven’t forgotten it. I am hopeful that this question will be resolved within the next few months, allowing us to re-visit our design and hopefully proceed to construction.
With six years of hindsight, we shouldn’t have proposed wide curb lanes, or should have been clearer about them. The proposal was not to widen the road, but to shift the paint lines. There’s not that much space available, so the result would have been lanes well below the 4.3 metres that should be used. So, our focus now is on completing the Urban Trail, once the Highway 1 question is resolved.
Canada Way to Sanderson/Kincaid. This segment has an Urban Trail on the west side, not a sidewalk. The use of the Urban Trail will be more viable once the above-mentioned segment to the north has been constructed. You note the driveways, which are always a challenge for Urban Trails. This segment has relatively few driveways (five) but they can still be a challenge.
Sanderson/Kincaid to Kingsway. You have suggested painted bike lanes. This is the first time I have heard that suggestion for this segment. Traffic volumes are generally light. We would not be able to implement bike lanes without banning parking on one side of the road. We have sometimes done this (see the new bike lanes on Burris Street) but don’t do it lightly as residents generally don’t like it. I don’t see this segment as a priority for that approach.
Kingsway to Imperial. Your concern here is not with the design of the route but the construction that has disrupted it. All proposed road closures are reviewed by our Engineering Department. Most are requested by outside agencies (Metro Vancouver in this case). Our Lane Closure Request form states, “As bicycles require less space than cars, they can often be accommodated within a work zone even when cars must be detoured. Where there is a closure of a dedicated bicycle lane, an alternative lane should be provided when possible to avoid forcing a bicycle into a faster moving vehicle lane. If this is not possible “Share The Road” signs should be installed or a bicycle detour route provided.” I should note that we generally do not require a specific detour route to be identified for any mode.
Imperial to Marine Drive. As you noted, the Bikeway currently ends one block before Marine Drive, because we don’t have any road right-of-way in that block. The intention from the beginning is that we will build a trail on School District land, scooting around the house that’s in the way, to get to Marine Drive. This has not been a priority for us since this trail had no bike route to link to, southward. However, that is changing (see below). We therefore need to complete this 80-metre section of trail.
Marine Drive to Fraser River. The route you are using is the dirt trail on the Patterson alignment, leading to the pedestrian overpass above Marine Way, and then continuing on the dirt trail. This is not a designated bike route. It is a park trail, designed and intended for pedestrians. I understand why you are using it, but I will not comment on its deficiencies for bikes as that is not its intended function. You will have likely noted the development of the “New Haven” site between Marine Drive and Marine Way. This development includes an Urban Trail through the site. At Marine Drive, this will align with the above-mentioned trail on School District land. At Marine Way, it will come out at the Glenlyon Parkway traffic signal, thus providing a safe connection to the existing Urban Trail continuing southward below Marine Way.
Prior to Council approval, each Bikeway design is the result of a public consultation process as well as an end-to-end tour with interested cyclists. Both are advertised on the VACC-Burnaby listserv. I hope you can join us for our next one (no date at present).
You also provided a few comments on routes other than the Sea-to-River Bikeway, which I will address briefly.
North Fraser Way and Glenlyon Parkway. These roads have been built in segments over a period of many years, and that work is still on-going. The newer segments (say, within the last 10 or 15 years) haven been built with wide curb lanes, which is our standard for this situation. However, they are not wide enough to have painted bike lanes. I would prefer not to have bike lanes next to parked cars unless they were separated by a buffer of 0.5 to 1.0 metres (due to the “dooring” hazard). These roads would thus need to be 1.0 to 2.0 metres wider.
CVG “industrial” section. This entire road segment is being rebuilt next year. It will have an Urban Trail along the north side. Still not the Galloping Goose Trail, but better than today. (I realize you have since done an entire post on the CVG, with more to follow. That one’s not my project, so I won’t comment, but Ian Wasson might respond.)
Still Creek @ Douglas. No, this signal is not triggered by vehicle weight. It uses video cameras, and should detect cyclists. Perhaps you didn’t wait long enough? If you have waited 60+ seconds with no result, let me know and I’ll get someone to check the signal programming.
I don’t have time to provide such lengthy comments on a regular basis, but you put a lot of thought into your original blog, and I wanted to respond accordingly. It’s great to see the interest that your blog is getting, as it indicates the high level of interest in Burnaby’s cycling infrastructure. Thanks again.
Thanks for your thoughtful, thorough and informative response, Stu. I have posted your comment to give it as much exposure as possible. Lots of people are interested in this issue – this post has attracted my highest traffic ever – almost double as much as the post in #2 position. So I want to make sure your response gets out there.
Many of your points are excellent, or at least provide hope for the future.
However, one thing that stands out as unsatisfactory to me, is the point about Burnaby’s requirements for proposed road closures. You state that they are as follows: “As bicycles require less space than cars, they can often be accommodated within a work zone even when cars must be detoured. Where there is a closure of a dedicated bicycle lane, an alternative lane should be provided when possible to avoid forcing a bicycle into a faster moving vehicle lane. If this is not possible “Share The Road” signs should be installed or a bicycle detour route provided.” What confuses me about this, is that none of these requirements has been met at this road closure. So shouldn’t Burnaby act to require that Metro Vancouver meet them? It has after all now been several months that this road has been closed …
I appreciate the thoughtful insight that Stuart provides here. It is good to know that somebody at City Hall is in touch with these issues.
The final comment regarding the signal trigger at Still Creek @ Douglas reminds me of an issue that bothers me in general with the intersection sensors in Burnaby: I don’t know which ones are good with bikes, and which ones aren’t.
I have experimented with some of the signals in areas where I have to ride in the automobile lane and have found that most (but not all?) of them can be triggered by a bicycle if it’s located in the right spot. The problem is that–if you don’t hit the right spot–you don’t really know about it for a couple of minutes. This not only makes one late for meetings, but kind of makes cyclists look rather foolish.
Paint is cheap. For those of us who are relatively comfortable sitting in an automotive left turn lane, it would be extremely useful if there was a symbol of some sort painted on the road to show us the best place to stop.
Yes, good point about the paint. Today at Still Creek, for the first time ever (in 2 years of using that route to get to work), the lights changed when there were no cars waiting. However, there were 2 bikes instead of just my one. I am pretty short, and I am thinking perhaps I am just too short to trigger the change, but the other cyclist was taller and therefore it went off? I am going to experiment on the weekend.
My understanding is that there is typically a coil under the street, and the magnetic field gets disrupted by the presences of enough metal. If the bike hits the right spot, the sensor at the other end “notices”. Sometimes it helps to lie the bike down on its side.
Mmm, that’s an interesting visual. I’m usually so heavily laden with panniers, I don’t think I’d get my bike upright again … I’ll add it to my list of experiments though! I’d love to understand how these things work. Today at Stillcreek and Douglas I was checking it out, trying to figure out the mystery. There is something that looks like a tiny satellite dish, angled down towards the road – perhaps that’s the visual sensor?
I’d be curious to know what these cameras that Stuart mentioned look like. It could change the whole way I tackle lighted intersections.
Thanks for all the effort you put into this Joe. I agree with your comment on the road closure. There was no consideration for cyclists and it was done poorly. Hopefully the city can correct this.
Thank you Stuart for your response.
Hi Claude, welcome to my blog! Thanks for the thanks – I really appreciate it. I put a ton of work into this, at the end of a tiring day of working and commuting, and it’s really cool to know that some people read it and appreciate it.
I think I have to follow up on the Sea to River Route further – I really appreciated Stuart’s response, but I am still not happy about that closure. Every time I go through that closure (10 times a week) I get annoyed again about the blatant lack of respect for cyclists. Stuart said it is under the jurisdiction of Metro Vancouver, so I am going to contact them and ask why they are not following the City of Burnaby’s guidelines for such closures (as outlined by Stuart). I am going to cc as many people as I can in the Mayor’s office as well … I am a big fan of Vision Vancouver, and I cannot imagine that they want cyclists to be treated like this. And for months and months and months! There is no sign that it will ever be finished …