Installing separated bike lanes along Dunsmuir and Hornby streets has been the most controversial of the initiatives that Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has championed during his first term.
It is not one of the accomplishments of which he is most proud, however.
Robertson told Business in Vancouver last week that he believes his biggest accomplishments have been:
- hosting a successful Olympics;
- holding property taxes to 2% annually for two consecutive years; and
- reducing street homelessness by 82% largely by creating new shelters.
Not the bike lanes?
“No, they’re one of many initiatives on the clean transportation front,” Robertson said. “We’ve focused on electric vehicles, on improving transit and pedestrian infrastructure. The bike lanes get a lot of attention because the bike infrastructure downtown was nonexistent.”
That’s ridiculous, according to Non-Partisan Association (NPA) challenger Suzanne Anton – an avid cyclist who has pedalled across Canada and, last year, cycled from Paris, France to Prague, Czech Republic.
When the NPA was in power it implemented what Anton describes as “400 lane kilometres” of cycling facilities. (Bike lanes on both sides of a one-kilometre long street count as two lane kilometers.)
“All of those 400 lane kilometres went in smooth as butter,” Anton said. “You never heard anything about them.”
One of her challenges during the 2011 mayoral race is to convince Hornby business owners and those opposed to the bike lanes to vote for her. (See: “Business concerned by NPA policy void” – issue 1132; July 5-11)
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: GlenKorstrom