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4
CITY OF VANCOUVER
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JUNE 10 AND 27, 2002
A Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Monday, June 10, 2002, at 7:30 p.m., in the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall, and reconvened on Thursday, June 27, 2002, at 4:30 p.m. in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.
JUNE 10, 2002 |
JUNE 27, 2002 | |
PRESENT: |
Deputy Mayor Gordon Price
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Mayor Philip Owen
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ABSENT: |
Mayor Philip Owen (Civic Business)
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Councillor Fred Bass
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CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: |
Laura Kazakoff, Meeting Coordinator |
Diane Clairmont, Meeting Coordinator |
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Clarke
SECONDED by Councillor Don Lee
THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Deputy Mayor Price in the Chair.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
1. Downtown Transportation Plan (File 5560)
Vancouver City Council, at its meeting on May 28, 2002, referred the Downtown Transportation Plan to a special evening Council meeting to hear delegations.
Accordingly, Council had before it a Policy Report dated May 16, 2002, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services and Director of Current Planning recommended the adoption of a Downtown Transportation Plan for the City of Vancouver that establishes strategies and actions to meet the city's transportation goals within the downtown area. The General Manager of Community Services also recommended approval.
Also before Council were the following:
· a report from the Special Advisory Committee on Seniors, dated March 22, 2002, endorsing the Plan; and
· a report from the Vancouver Bicycle Advisory Committee, dated May 22, 2002, which supported the direction taken by the Plan but flagged some items for future consideration.
Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services, Larry Beasley, Director of Current Planning, Ian Adam, Assistant City Engineer - Transportation, Doug Louie, Downtown Transportation Engineer, and Jeffrey Patterson, Downtown Transportation Planner, were available to respond to questions.
The following speakers addressed Council and expressed general support for one or more components of the Plan and offered additional suggestions and comments:
Ken Wuschke, Bicycle Advisory Committee
Ray Straatsma, Better Environmentally Sound Transportation
Peter Ladner
Rachel Jamieson
Leslie Love
Sara Ross
Damian Dooley
Kari Hewett (brief filed)
Shane Simpson
Rob Wynen West End Residents Association (brief filed)
John Irwin, SPEC and Southeast False Creek Working Group
John Collings, Urban Transportation Task Force, Vancouver Board of Trade (brief filed)
Lars Wilke
Scott Nelson, Green Party
Steve Balyi, Transportation Planning Department, UBC
Julie Newton, Victoria Centre for Appropriate and Responsible Transportation
Society
Andriy Starovoytov
Harold Schellekens
David Pritchard
Farah Nazarali
Colin Brander
Nicolas Heap
A comment expressed by many of the foregoing speakers was the need to move forward as quickly as possible in implementing the Plan. Most also expressed the need for greatly improved cycling facilities in the downtown. Some of the comments made by the foregoing speakers are listed below, along with several concerns and reservations which were also expressed:
· the Plan is a significant step forward towards a balanced transportation system; however, it is also very modest and long overdue;
· parts of the Plan require more collaborative work with TransLink;
· it is essential that dedicated priority transit lanes be provided wherever possible;
· the biggest barrier to increased cycling downtown is the lack of safe facilities such as bike lanes; good bicycle routes throughout the downtown are a necessary part of a sustainable city;
· as City policies place the highest priority on walking, cycling and transit, these policies should be more boldly implemented in the Plan;
· strongly support the alternative transportation elements in the Plan;
· bicycle lanes are a low-tech, low cost solution to congestion and lessen environmental impacts;
· the downtown core should be a transit fare-free zone;
· suggestion was made for diagonal cross walks and pedestrian-only zones;
· public private partnerships should not be considered to finance and deliver essential services such as transit;
· need to adopt a community bus strategy with more effective, seamless linking of communities;
· suggestion that one parking lane on Denman be removed to provide more space for pedestrians;
· street cars do not service the West End; a transit system that services the entire downtown core is needed, and West End transit services need to be speeded up;
· maps should be created to demonstrate the close proximity of downtown destination points, with estimated walking times; the maps should also promote alternative modes of transportation within the downtown;
· should consider the creation of a car-free central civic square;
· the issue of short-cutting through the West End should be addressed;
· concern was expressed with regard to some of the proposed changes to traffic circulation;
· support expressed for the proposed transit route changes to create looping routes; would also encourage the City to pursue fare differentials in the downtown area.
Richard Campbell, Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (brief filed) noted further cycling facilities are required, including continuous bike routes along entire length of Nelson and Smithe. Also an additional north bound route, parallel to Homer is needed. It is critical the Plan designates these streets for future bicycle lanes.
Guy Wera, The Bicycle People, noted the Plan is still putting cars first, and is doing nothing to encourage increased walking, cycling and transit use. He advised the Plan does not reflect current behaviour changes which are occurring naturally.
Bev Ballantyne (brief filed) expressed several concerns regarding the Plan. She noted many of the recommendations are good and long overdue but do not go far enough and lack a definitive time frame for implementation. Ms. Ballantyne made several suggestions for improvements to the Plan.
John Whistler, Green Party, felt the Plan could be further developed to enhance pedestrian and cyclist facilities. He suggested the list of recommendations be prioritized to put pedestrian, cyclist and transit improvements first, and also noted the speed limit in the west end should be reduced.
Richard Asselin, Lord Roberts Parents Advisory Committee, expressed concern with the lack of traffic calming adjacent west end schools, not only during school hours, but also outside of school hours, when school yards are used as playgrounds.
Craig Heale, BC Coalition of Motorcyclists, expressed the need for designated motorcycle parking in the downtown core. He noted that encouraging motorcycle use would decrease congestion and does not require changes to infrastructure.
Don Buchanan, with the aid of graphics, expressed concern that the Plan was based on information obtained through a mail-in travel survey, which indicated a mode split of 2.5% for cycling, rather than from the results of a random-sample survey, which indicated a 7% mode split for cycling.
Maralynn Elder (brief filed) spoke of her concerns with regard to a new works yard in development in East Vancouver.
During the hearing of speakers, staff responded to questions concerning issues raised, such as the feasibility of implementing dedicated bus lanes, diagonal crosswalks, no-right-turns-on-red prohibitions, and a transit fare-free zone.
Council agreed to reconvene the Special Meeting on Thursday, June 27, 2002, following the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment meeting, in order to hear from any speakers who were unable to speak this evening.
On June 27, 2002, Stuart Swain, President, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (brief filed), addressed the Committee. Some of his comments included the following:
· support initiatives to improve accessibility for all vehicles;
· new and never tried initiatives, such as bike lanes on major arterials, should be implemented with caution so as not to negatively impact other users;
· propose the City establish a committee to enable residents, TransLink and downtown businesses the opportunity to work with staff on an ongoing basis to establish benchmarks, advise on implementation of programs, assess the effects of theseprograms and recommend any needed changes;
· applauded Council's decision with regard to the redesign of Granville Street;
· urged Council to defer any DTP decisions pertaining to Granville Street until consultants' work is completed.
Jeffrey Patterson, Planner, Downtown Transportation Plan, responded to questions concerning Granville Mall and the consultant study.
MOVED by Councillor Don Lee
THAT decision on the Downtown Transportation Plan be referred to the next Regular Council meeting, as Unfinished Business.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Don Lee
THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MOVED by Councillor Daniel Lee
SECONDED by Councillor Sullivan
THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
The Special Council recessed on June 10, 2002, at 10:05 p.m. and
adjourned on June 27, 2002, at 4:45 p.m.
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