Hundreds of people have signed petitions asking the city to remove the new bike lanes on Sixth Street.
Beach House Tanning, which has been located in the 700 block of Sixth Street since 1985, launched an online petition that has been signed by more than 200 people.
“After the last few years we've had and struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, we are coming to you as small businesses to take it into your heart and finally listen to us,” said the petition. “We are asking you to re-think the placement of this bike lane and have it removed from our block.”
The petition states that businesses have lost clients because of the removal of parking of a block of parking in front of businesses. It goes on to say that the bike lanes would be better suited on a street that doesn’t have as much traffic – and on a street that wouldn’t eliminate on-street parking for businesses and the removal of a popular bus stop.
Alicia Spanier, owner of Beach House Tanning, said she’s also started a paper petition that’s been signed by 100 people. She noted that more than 500 people have signed petitions started by two other Sixth Street businesses.
Spanier said she was “blindsided” by the construction of the bike lanes and is adamant that no one from the city visited her salon to discuss the project.
“We had no idea,” she said. “Had we known, we wouldn't have signed into another three-year lease.”
Spanier, who has owned the business for three years, said she has invested her family’s savings into the business, persevering through the pandemic and renovating the space to make it more pleasing for customers.
“September, October, November, December is our busiest months. We are used to having 30 to 50 people come in a day, lineups for the beds; the beds are (used) nonstop. Since this has been going in, we are having three to four people a day,” she told the Record. “At the end of June, new owners took over the building and we re-signed a three-year lease. And they upped the rent by three times.”
Spanier said the two parking spots at the rear of her building aren’t enough to accommodate the customers would be typically visiting the salon at this time of year, most of whom decide to drop in when they’re driving by. She said the removal of parking in front of the building is particularly problematic for elderly customers and those who get around with walkers.
“Change is hard”
The newly constructed New Westminster Secondary School cycling connector features separated bike lanes along each side of the street, from Seventh Avenue to the entrance to NWSS.
Social media platforms – and the letters to the Record – have been filled with people criticizing the project, citing concerns about increased traffic congestion, safety issues about the narrowing of the roadway, the loss of on-street and lack of consultation about the project. Supporters, however, have responded by saying the infrastructure allows cyclists of all ages to ride safely, slows down traffic which makes the road safer for everyone, was implemented after two rounds of public consultation and will actually boost local businesses.
Mike Anderson, the city’s manager of transportation, said businesses along Sixth Street should have received letters on at least three occasions during the engagement process and one notification letter before construction began.
“As part of the project’s engagement launch near the end of September 2021, over 2,800 residents and business owners within close proximity of the project area were directly mailed,” he said. “This letter included information about the project, upcoming engagement events, as well as directions to the project website for additional information and engagement opportunities.”
Anderson said city the project team did a “business walkabout” on Oct. 5, 2021, to provide letters to businesses along Sixth Street.
“For businesses that were open at the time, this included face-to-face contact with owners, management, or staff to provide awareness of the projects, an opportunity to provide input, as well as an invitation to participate in a focus group,” he said. “If businesses were not open at the time, the project team dropped letters through the mail slot wherever possible.”
During that engagement process, Anderson said Sixth Street was determined to be the preferred route for the NWSS cycling, as opposed to Fifth Street. Council supported the Sixth Street option in January 2022.
Anderson said the project team observed parking demand on the street and found it to generally be lower on the east side of Sixth Street. It also noted that there is off-street parking available for these businesses behind the buildings.
As part of a second round of engagement, Anderson said the project team provided a stakeholder outreach letter to the businesses and conducted another “business walkabout” on Feb. 3, 2022. He said that outreach included face-to-face contact with many businesses, and letters were left for businesses that weren’t open at the time.
According to Anderson, 16 to 17 on-street parking spaces and a loading zone were removed along Sixth Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue to make way for the NWSS cycling corridor project. About 75 per cent of the parking spots that were removed were on the east side of the street.
“Limited existing roadway space means we can only have on-street parking on one side of the street with the new bike facilities along Sixth Street,” he said.
Anderson said surveys in other cities generally find that most customers on local commercial streets like Sixth Street arrive at businesses on foot, bike or transit.
“By reallocating some of the parking, we are improving the opportunity of access for those who choose to arrive by bike or on other mobility devices and providing a needed connection to the civic precinct around the high school,” he said. “This is very consistent with the city’s master transportation plan and bold steps toward climate action, which call for the prioritization and reallocation of road space to sustainable modes of transportation.”
Anderson said the project isn’t quite complete, with the bus stop on the west side of the street still needing to be reconstructed, and some signage, pavement markings and plastic delineators still needing to be installed.
“We are also adding advanced left-turn signals for traffic on Sixth Street and Eighth Avenue,” he said. “Some of the work is weather-dependent.”
The City of New Westminster will continue to monitor the function of the street, particularly for safety and transit operations, and continue to hear feedback from the public, businesses, and transit operators, Anderson said.
“We understand that the changes associated with retrofitting an older city with new transportation options can be challenging at first,” he said. “In cities across the globe, these changes have generally been found to be positive or neutral for businesses in the long run, as people adjust to the changes and customers find new ways of getting around.”
Anderson said the city is firmly committed to prioritizing walking, cycling, and transit, as outlined in the master transportation plan. He noted that, as part of the city’s response to the climate emergency, council has directed that 10 per of road space used only for private cars will be reallocated to sustainable modes of transportation.
Mayor-elect Patrick Johnstone said the city spent two years engaging with people about safe routes to schools and safe routes to New Westminster Secondary school.
“I think we expect to hear some concern, whenever new mobility lanes are built,” he said of the petition. “Change is really hard.”
Johnstone said Sixth Street was determined to be the preferred route because mobility lanes need to connect as directly as possible to a destination. In addition to working better for the users, he said the Sixth Street route also worked better from a technical perspective.
Johnstone said bike lanes have always improved business environments when they're installed in commercial areas in cities across North America. He said the project results in a better and safer pedestrian environment that benefits businesses’ and includes an improved new pedestrian crossing at Hamilton Street.
“This isn't just about bike lanes,” he said. “This is about improving the entire environment of that block-and-a-half stretch of Sixth to make it make it work better for all users.”
Given the “robust consultation” that took place in planning the project, Johnstone expects it to work out very well for community members.
“I think it will take a bit of time,” he said. “Any time you do shift mobility modes, it takes a bit of adjustment for people.”
Johnstone is thrilled the city is able to provide a safe way for students to get to New Westminster Secondary School.
“I'm excited that NWSS is going to have safe routes to school for the first time,” he said. “They built the school with that in mind, and I'm glad that the city is finally getting the work done to get that school connected properly.”
