[CCCNFBW] Article from the Colombian about bike project results from the City

[Merribeth Greenberg]

Below is the article from the Colombian about how the City voted on Monday
about the West Side Bike Project.
At the list CAC meeting of the Bike project they had said the sidewalks
would not be included. Which frustrates me. I had commented that I would
probably be walking down the bike lane if the sidewalks would not be done.
Definitely seems like the city had there own plan and choose to not listen
to their residence and do what they wanted to do. Just formed the CAC to
make it look like they did something to appease the out cry of the
citizens. These are only my opinions. -Beth

Vancouver council consensus: Remove 400 parking spaces from Columbia Street
The city will install protected bike lanes from Eighth to 13th streets and
Mill Plain to 45th Street
By Calley Hair <https://www.columbian.com/author/c_hair/>, Columbian staff
writer
Published: February 25, 2020, 5:28pm

Vancouver will move forward with a plan to install protected bike lanes
along Columbia Street and remove nearly 400 parking spaces, following a
near-consensus from the city council that pedestrian and cyclist safety was
more important than maintaining convenient parking along the corridor.

The decision followed a lengthy discussion Monday evening, in which five of
the seven councilors expressed support for the option with the biggest
footprint: protected bike lanes along both directions of Columbia Street
from Eighth Street to 13th Street and Mill Plain Boulevard to 45th Street,
with a protected northbound bike lane and a marked shared southbound lane
along the section from 13th Street to Mill Plain.

“This, to me, comes down to a choice between safety and parking. When it
comes to that, safety is always going to win for me,” said Councilor Erik
Paulsen, one of the voices in support of the plan.

 Councilor Ty Stober, who patched into the conversation remotely, said
there were no easy compromises. As is, Vancouver has the worst car vs.
cyclist and car vs. pedestrian accident rate in the state of Washington, he
added.

“Ultimately, sacrifice is required,” Stober said. “Very tangible losses for
few in exchange for very disbursed gains for many. It’s a very hard pill to
swallow.”

It was déjà vu at City Hall, where the governing body had a near-identical
discussion about the Westside Bike Mobility Project a year ago.

The project is part of the city’s broader Westside Mobility Strategy, an
initiative aimed at accommodating more means of transportation in the city
than just motorized vehicles. The protected bike lanes, in theory, won’t
just be used for bikes — they’re designed for all forms of
“micro-mobility.” That could include modes of transportation already
gaining popularity, like electric scooters, as well as those that haven’t
been invented yet.

“By the year 2035, one in four people will be age 65 and older. We need to
have different mobility options for everyone,” said Councilor Laurie
Lebowsky.

In February 2019, the proposal to build protected bike lanes along three
north-south routes on Vancouver’s west side drew loud condemnation from
many residents and businesses along the corridors.

Columbia Street was by far the most controversial. Columbia cuts through
the historic Hough, Carter Park and Lincoln neighborhoods, with tightly
packed homes leaving little room for garages and long driveways. It also
borders the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center, where many disabled
veterans count on close street parking in order to make it to the door.
Residents turned up to council meetings en masse, voicing concerns about
what the proposal would do to livability in their neighborhoods.

 Based on the feedback in 2019, the city council decided to postpone the
bike lane installation by a year to consider alternatives. A scheduled
paving of Columbia Street, meant to coincide with the installation to make
the project more efficient, was also postponed.

City staff then embarked on a more robust public outreach process,
including open houses, online surveys and meetings with affected
neighborhood associations.

That process and transparency were important, Paulsen said. But the idea
that city leaders could resolve the issue with more conversations, he said,
was “naive optimism.”

“I’ve learned that no amount of process will resolve fundamental
disagreements on divisive issues, and that’s where leadership comes in,”
Paulsen said.
No formal vote

There was no formal vote on the proposal, but two councilmembers didn’t
give it their endorsement.

Councilor Sarah Fox, the most recent addition behind the dais, said she
felt too new to the council to solidly support the most comprehensive bike
lane plan or a more moderate “hybrid” option. Bart Hansen was the only
councilor in strong opposition to either plan, delivering a speech that
criticized the city for a weak, “checking-a-box” approach to citizen
outreach the first time around.

“We have completely destroyed transparency in this process,” Hansen said,
drawing some applause from residents who attended Monday’s meeting. “I’m
proposing alternative No. 3, which is that we repave Columbia.”

None of the councilors supported the alternative hybrid option that would
have seen the removal of just 223 parking spaces by replacing some of the
proposed protected bike lanes with sharrows, of shared car and bicycle
lanes. The councilors’ preferred option, which a few called the “gold
standard” in multimodal transportation, will require removing 393 spaces.

Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle concluded the discussion with a pointed reminder
about public rights of way.

“I don’t own the street in front of my house. That is a city street,” she
said, adding that she, too, supported the more comprehensive version of the
protected bike lane plan.

“With that, city manager, you have a consensus from the city council to
move forward.”

https://www.columbian.com/news/2020/feb/25/vancouver-council-oks-plan-to-remove-400-parking-spaces-from-columbia-street/



Beth Greenberg
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