Fwd: Lewes Blvd bike lanes (again)

[Julie DesBrisay]

Hey everyone,

We recently tossed around the question of how to get the City to update its snow clearing policy. See below for my email request to mayor and council, and my subsequent exchange with Laura Cabott, the only councillor who responded.

I encourage you all to send requests to mayor and council for the policy to be updated to align with their promotion of Whitehorse as a "winter biking city" and their assertion that they are encouraging active transportation and climate-friendly commuting.

Julie

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Cabott, Laura <Laura....@whitehorse.ca>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2021 at 18:42
Subject: Re: Lewes Blvd bike lanes (again)
To: Julie DesBrisay <jdesb...@gmail.com>

Good question. The more people raise it exactly like you have done then it is harder for Council ( need a majority for most things) and staff to avoid it. So, what you and others and WUCC and students from Takhini etc are doing can be effective.

It certainly is on our radar but it takes time to shift practices, policies, mindsets but this is shifting.  It is time time for the City to revisit our snow clearing policy and trail maintenance policy and that is a time where I and others can seek changes to address something like this.

Thanks again Julie.

Laura

Laura Cabott

Councillor, City of Whitehorse

867-689-4978

Working and living within the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 8, 2021, at 9:02 AM, Julie DesBrisay <jdesb...@gmail.com> wrote:



Laura, thank you for your response, and for your previous efforts. I appreciate both. 

What else can I do to help make it happen?

Julie

On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 8:07 AM Cabott, Laura <Laura....@whitehorse.ca> wrote:

Thank you for your email Julie.

I personally agree that the policy needs updating with an eye to supporting active transportation. I did raise this at Council in November or December when the WUCC sent us a letter with similar concerns of yours.  I am hopeful the City can work on an updated policy and address these issues.

Laura

Laura Cabott

Councillor, City of Whitehorse

867-689-4978

Working and living within the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 7, 2021, at 5:43 PM, Julie DesBrisay <jdesb...@gmail.com> wrote:



Dear Mayor and Council,

Whitehorse is making some great strides toward encouraging more active transportation within the city, including in winter. For this it should be celebrated. I am writing to request that you direct City administration to update its snow plowing priorities to actually put that encouragement into real action. 

For a number of years, and through various different venues - both as an individual and as a member of the Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition - I have advocated to City Operations for better clearing of the bike lanes along Lewes Blvd. For the vast majority of the winter, snow drifts extend at least a metre, if not two metres or more, from the curb, across the bike lanes, and out into vehicle traffic lanes. It makes riding as a relatively "hardy" cyclist impossible without being fully in the vehicle lane, even on a fat-tired bike. It made riding as a parent towing my young child to school in a bike trailer behind me feel like I was reckless (and so I have stopped doing so). The response to my requests from City Operations has consistently (and understandingly) been that snow clearing is done according to the priorities in the snow clearing policy.

I was dismayed this week to see that the shoulders on side streets of downtown have been fully cleared before the bike lanes on the main artery through Riverdale. This is an indication that they rank higher than Lewes Blvd. on the snow clearing priority list. Given the number of people who commute by bicycle to school and work from and within Riverdale, including parents towing small children behind bicycles (or on their cargo bikes), the snow clearing priorities are outdated.

If the City really is as committed to active transportation as it asserts it is, it needs to update the snow clearing priorities to make biking safer, both where it has designed "bike lanes" and otherwise. I suggest a full refresh of the priorities in the snow clearing policy is necessary. Failing that, bike lanes should be given much higher priority.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Yours truly,

Julie DesBrisay

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[Dan Bader]

I followed up with Steve about this, and Councillors are urged not to respond to email sent to 'mayor and council' email. In the future, better to address them individually perhaps?

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[Land Pearson]

that a new policy?  that was always my go to.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Whitehorse-Urban-Cycling-Coalition/CAGYzDxC8oQ%3DOBuqPWf%2BVxMYtSLAK%3DmPgA3DxWyw03i0GcY6s%2BQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Dan Bader]

If you write to mayorandcouncil@, the intent is it gets  technil answer from bureaucrats instead of 7 individuals.  

If you want a political response from an individual, use first.last@.