A Cycling Sundays on Front Street proposal is a no-go this summer.
In October 2024, council approved a motion from Coun. Daniel Fontaine to have staff report back on the feasibility and operational issues relating to the initiative, which proposed closing Front Street to vehicular traffic during daylight hours on Sundays from May to September. The idea was to open the street to cyclists, pedestrians, and other forms of active transition while it was temporarily closed, and to seek interest from food trucks and other micro businesses who may want to set up on Front Street during the Sunday road closures.
In a Jan. 13 report to council, staff estimated the pilot project could end up costing the city about $180,000.
“Due to high unbudgeted costs associated with this program, and significant impacts on 2025 work plans, particularly related to road safety, staff are recommending that the city not pursue this program in 2025,” said the report.
The report said the pilot project would require “significant” effort by staff and would have impacts on 2025 work plans. Staff said the pilot project would result in delays on high-priority road safety projects – including those at East Columbia Street/Brunette Avenue and at Sixth Avenue/Second Street.
At its Jan. 13 meeting, council unanimously supported the staff recommendation not to pursue the Cycling Sundays on Front Street 2025 pilot project.
Fontaine expressed disappointment that the complexities related to Front Street would create “fairly significant” costs to develop a Cycling Sundays’ pilot project this summer. He believes it offers opportunities for local tourism, connects Sapperton to the Quay, and provides an opportunity for people to cycle and walk along that route.
Fontaine, however, supported the staff recommendation, saying council has to make “tough decisions” and be fiscally prudent about the use of tax dollars. (Earlier in the meeting, Fontaine voted against a motion related to the city’s proposed 2025 budget, which includes a 6.6 per cent property tax increase.)
Fontaine said “it isn’t without irony” that the cost of the Cycling on Sundays’ initiative is far less than the money the city has previously spent to create bike lanes on Agnes Street and Sixth Street.
“Here we are debating tonight $180,000 for the mother-of-all-bike-lanes that would get used 50-fold compared to what we're seeing on those particular bike lanes,” he said.
Although the Cycling Sundays on Front Street proposal won’t proceed this year, Fontaine said he hopes a connection between the downtown and Sapperton can be created.
“I'm hoping that at some point in the relatively near future that we don't need temporary solutions like this, that we actually have that fully connected waterfront,” he said. “The vision for our city would be that you can live in Sapperton, live in Quayside, and be connected along our beautiful waterfront without having to take your bike into areas that perhaps are a bit more dangerous and are not as bike-friendly … and as pedestrian-friendly.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said he was a little disappointed that issues with the ongoing Pattullo Bridge replacement project and the railways made this initiative challenging at this time.
“As Coun. Fontaine said, it's technically a little bit challenging, but it's more of a cost of dealing with those technical challenges which need to be dealt with,” he said. “But I don't give up hope that maybe after the Pattullo Bridge project is done, we can't revisit this.”
Johnstone said the city took advantage of the reduced traffic that occurred during the COVID pandemic to temporarily close Front Street to vehicles in 2020.
“We're just not in that situation right now. And I think the challenges with making this work right now just don't make don't see make sense from a financial point of view,” he said. “So, I do support the recommendation, but I don't want us to close our mind to the idea of finding better ways to somehow make this work in the future, if the opportunity does arise.”
The staff report said Front Street was closed to vehicles on Sunday in the summer of 2020, at a time when COVID-10 physical distance guidelines were in place and vehicle traffic volumes were reduced. The report said the road closure was “generally successful” but resulted in concerns related to Front Street’s designation as a truck route and about people crossing the railway track near Sapperton Landing Park.
The staff report stated that traffic volumes have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels so a closure of Front Street to vehicular traffic in 2025 is expected to have a more significant impact on traffic delays and livability of the surrounding neighbourhood. It also noted that work on the Pattullo Bridge replacement project is expected to continue throughout the spring and summer of 2025, so that may be an issue.
But the report highlighted “two key items” related to doing a pilot in the summer of 2025, one of which is getting TransLink’s support – something that could take time and would require staff time.
A second issue relates to having people cross the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway track at two locations. In addition to flaggers, the report said other costs related to the pilot project would include the need to provide signage and barricades to ensure the public moves safely at and around the track crossings, as well as additional cleaning by public works staff after each event.
According to the staff report, the direct financial impacts of providing CPKC-assigned flaggers and other traffic control personnel, crossing control signage crossing enhancements and maintenance would be about $10,000 per day for the pilot. The high-level estimate for an abbreviated 12-week pilot project is estimated at $120,000, which does not include “any soft costs”, such as detailed traffic management plans, marketing, or special events-related expenses.
To reduce the pilot project’s impact on staff’s workplan, the city could retain an external project manager – something staff say would cost $50,000 to $60,000, bringing the summer pilot project’s cost up to about $180,000.
