Plans to build lake-to-lake bike lane in Penticton, B.C., met with criticism

Mariana Wolff owns a boutique cannabis store in downtown Penticton, B.C. The century-old cottage that houses the business has been a major attraction for local residents and tourists alike.

But Wolff fears a proposed bike lane running through the southern Okanagan city will replace all the road parking spaces near her shop on Martin Street and turn her driving customers away.

"We would lose 90 stalls of parking along the west side of Martin," Wolff said. "They [customers] would possibly turn to other locations where there are parking lots." 

She and other downtown retailers petitioned against the six-kilometre bicycle route between Skaha Lake and Okanagan Lake — an $8-million dollar project that was passed by city council on Tuesday with a 5-1 vote.

In 2012, the City of Penticton identified the need to build a lake-to-lake cycling path separated from vehicle traffic with barriers, cones or curbs. It stated in its official community plan last year that the project will help support an active and affordable mode of transportation.

The municipality launched a website to inform people of the bike route design and collect their opinions.

But Wolff says many local residents were not aware of the city's attempts to gather their input. 

"Maybe just an online approach like that isn't necessarily the only way to try and get people's opinions," she said. "They might see a bunch of emails coming…end[ing] up in the junk folder."

Coun. Katie Robinson says she's "100 per cent in favour" of the bicycle lane, citing "some overwhelming support" in town.

She says she's aware of downtown merchants' concerns and hopes they'll eventually accept the project.

"There's not a bike path in the world that didn't start off with some kind of controversy, but then proved themselves very shortly to be the jewel in the crown that's been enjoyed by locals and tourists alike for years," Robinson said to Chris Walker, host of CBC's Daybreak South.

One of the bike lane controversies Robinson might be referring to is Vancouver's Burrard Bridge bike lanes.

Before the bike lanes were built in July 2009, they met harsh criticism from some leaders and community members who said the plan would result in traffic gridlock.

Now, the city of Vancouver says the Burrard Bridge bike lane is the busiest of its kind in North America.

Robinson says it may take several years to build the Penticton bike route, and city staff will first launch a detailed planning phase to address concerns from downtown businesses.

"We still have a lot of room to be able to tweak the route, maybe move it from one side of the road to the other side of the road so that there's less interference with businesses."

There's no timeline yet for the start of the planning stage.