A CLOSER LOOK
/A STREET CALMING EXPERIMENT AT LORD ROBERTS
Is Brief Closure A Solution Or A Problem?
George Pajari volunteers for the “School Streets” pilot project at Lord Roberts Elementary.
(CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE)
by John Streit
It’s 3 p.m. on a sunny Monday outside Lord Roberts Elementary in the West End and I am standing in the middle of Comox Street speaking with a volunteer manning a unique “road closed” barrier while parents cycle by. George Pajari, wearing an orange reflective safety vest, a safety “kilt,” orange socks, and orange Crocs, is one of several people offering their time for a four-week “School Streets” pilot project.
What is essentially a car-free block has been created from Cardero to Bidwell beside the school open to walking, biking, and rolling during the morning and afternoon pick-up/drop-off. In total, Comox is closed just under two hours a day. The City of Vancouver also installed two new accessible parking spots on Pendrell adjacent to the school, especially for the pilot.
Signage explains the days and times of the pilot project.
Pajari says he is volunteering after recently becoming an avid cyclist. “I only started cycling after I retired. I used to drive five minutes to places. Now, I bike 150 kilometers a week.” He’s hoping to do the Vancouver to Whistler GranFondo after the pandemic.
While this type of experimental closure is new in Vancouver (three other schools are doing their own pilot projects), London, England now has over 400 permanent “School Streets.” According to stats by Cycling UK in a Bloomberg City Lab article, only around two percent of children ages five to ten bike to school in that country. That number doubles for kids ages 11 to 16. But compare that to a whopping 40 percent for children biking to school in the Netherlands. More than 75 percent of Lord Roberts families already walk, ride or roll to school.
Letting folks know they are “welcome”.
On its website, the City of Vancouver (project partner with the Vancouver School Board) claims “School Streets” has been shown in other jurisdictions to create a safer environment for children, improve air quality, encourage active travel to school and promote independent mobility, reduce congestion and vehicle volumes around schools and support COVID-19 physical distancing needs.
Ian Rowe is chair of the Parent Advisory Committee at Lord Roberts. He claims the pilot project, which ends on May 7, has been going well. “We are waiting for traffic counts, but some ad hoc counts by the PAC and our principal show that traffic has greatly reduced,” Rowe says feedback from parents has been almost exclusively positive. His biggest surprise is how much kids want to use Comox Street when they are allowed. “They love it. And I’m surprised by (apparently) how few people need to drive. Hopefully, the reduced traffic is making it better for drivers too,” he says.
Aviva Lacterman was born and raised in Vancouver, grew up in Lynn Valley but worked in several different countries such as France, Poland, and Israel mostly as a free-lance opera singer.
“I love being around different cultures and get an adrenaline rush by being in the center of all the action. I naturally gravitated to the West End which is so convenient in every way.” Lacterman adds she loves all our amenities and eateries, as well as Stanley Park and the beaches, and Second Beach Pool where she loves to swim. She has a daughter at LR. However, she is opposed to the “School Streets” closure and shared a change.org petition demanding a stop to the pilot project.
The “Safer Streets” program aims to create “a safer environment for children” during peak student arrival and departure periods.
“That section of Comox is already a very traffic-calmed street, to begin with. You can't drive any further east because it is one-way in the opposite direction, and you can't drive any further west because it is also one-way in the opposite direction! So, to me, this section of Comox is already an example of a safe street. It is just overkill to close it and make it "safer." There are also quite a few parents who do not live within the vicinity and need to drive their children to school.”
Lacterman, who feels there was a serious lack of consultation about the project at the school and in the surrounding community, disputes the climate argument for closing Comox. “I highly doubt that by closing one part of a street that this will do anything for climate change or making the city greener! This will just push the congestion over to parallel Pendrell Street where the school is encouraging parents to use instead,” she says.
But that hasn’t materialized according to Lucy Maloney. She is vice-chair of the LR Parent Advisory Committee and a cycling advocate. “It is really astonishing how much traffic has reduced on all the streets surrounding the school. We thought that Pendrell might get crowded with drivers blocked from using Comox but there are actually fewer cars using Pendrell than before the pilot. Some people who were driving seem to have decided to walk or ride instead since the pilot started. Maybe they’re letting their older kids walk a few blocks by themselves now that some of the intersections are safer. Apparently, this is a phenomenon called ‘traffic evaporation’ and it has been observed in the School Streets programs undertaken elsewhere, like the UK and other parts of Canada.”
Maloney agrees with Lacterman that Comox is really quiet and safe - most of the time. “But at the very times we need it to be the safest, it’s a dangerous chaotic mess. We have problems with traffic jams, drivers idling, cars turning in the middle of streets, drivers pulling in from the wrong side of the street, parents stopping in the middle of the street to let their kids in and out, car doors opening in the path of cyclists, drivers reversing through the crosswalks and people parking where they shouldn’t and for too long.”
Some of these issues can be seen in popular videos Maloney posts to Twitter.
When the topic of “School Streets” was posted on The West End Journal’s Facebook page, it received mixed reactions. Sharia Mustatia wants to hire traffic control during times for proposed road closures. “Create seasonal jobs. Closing the road completely is unrealistic and impractical for residents who will need to travel by car there to or from work.”
Teddy Ratcliffe likes the closure. “Traffic calmed only means you can still get there by car. There are still heaps of cars in your way. Plan ahead, maybe get a bike and get some exercise and you’ll be ok. Cars aren’t the only way around, and it’ll only get worse once people really start moving here. Think this is bad, try in five or ten years.”
Linda Kilkenny writes “just because 100 entitled parents are complaining about traffic, pretending it's about safety, does not mean the solution is to close a block off.”
Cory McBain feels this is becoming commonplace for the city. “Where’s the data to back this decision up? Are there a disproportionate number of accidents/speeding incidents/close calls in the affected area? I’d assume they would publish that if it exists. So, it’s likely that this is yet another bubble-wrapping initiative by some very special interest folks,” he says.
Anya Stec fears “existing residents can no longer park near their own home or come and go freely.” Bill McGinn lives in North Van. “Clearly the city does not want us to go there so instead we go to Burnaby. Even takeout is a challenge in the West End so we have stopped doing that even when we are passing through,” he writes.
Freya Zaltz has a child attending LR and is saddened by all the negativity. “It's a pilot project. If it fails, then other options can be pursued. No one is saying that this is the only option. Why not keep an open mind to see if it helps make the street safer for kids going to school? The traffic in front of the school is excessive and dangerous.”
So, should “School Streets” be made permanent? Ian Rowe with the PAC says maybe this is the right way to go. “The PAC has previously supported a petition signed by hundreds of parents requesting a permanent solution. Something like extending the existing separated bike lane that runs on Comox from Denman to Bidwell through to Cardero. That would give us a volunteer-free solution that we know already works for residents too.”
Aviva Lacterman feels there could be a simple compromise. “Make that section of Comox into a one-way West bound street to avoid the narrowing of the road when vehicles stop in front of the school Eastbound and other cars are trying to drive in both directions, but can't because there is not enough space.”
Lucy Maloney is calling for the continuation of the “School Streets.” “Enforcement by the VPD along with COV by-laws officers hasn’t helped to prevent some drivers from breaking the rules around the school. With so many families with small children trying to walk and ride we need to find a solution. About 300 parents signed a petition to continue the separated bike lane on Comox up past the school in 2019, but this pilot is another alternative.”
Rowe says the goal is to address a years-long safety issue at Lord Roberts.
“As a community, we need to continue to evolve and work together. This won’t always be easy and there will be some give and take. Hopefully, we can listen to each other and learn together.”
For further information about the School Streets project visit the City website here. If you would like to give feedback to the city about the program email schoolactivetravel@vancouver.ca.
John Streit is an anchor/reporter for Global News Radio 980 CKNW.
