(CKReview contributer John Sigurjonsson’s email response to the recent decision by municipal council to refuse to reconsider bike lanes on McNaughton Avenue, sparked this gently edited “Open letter to Chatham-Kent municipal council, staff and biking friends” written by Maureen Geddes)
Thank you for the update, John.
Last evening’s vote was a deeply disappointing outcome for my family. My son is only interested in getting on a bike, to get somewhere he wants to go. He is keenly interested in shooting hoops at the YMCA to practice his basketball and to work out in the gym. That bike lane would have allowed him to travel safely and independently from Victoria Avenue to Baldoon Road, then into the Y through the back way. He is 13-years-old and in grade 8. I expected this bike lane to serve him throughout his high school years. The defeat of this motion means he can only get safely to the Y for the next three to four years when I am available to drive him. It is too far to walk or run more than occasionally, so the lack of a bike lane means a major loss of independence and access to a very healthy lifestyle choice.
It is a big loss for me as well, as I had envisioned not only biking to the Y instead of driving, but also being able to stop at places like Sarah’s Farm Market for fresh vegetables and fruit on the way home. The McNaughton Ave. bike lanes would have made biking an integral part of our lives, and I was thrilled that the infrastructure would finally be present to make it possible. It is simply not safe to bike in that traffic as it is now.
The example of Wallaceburg bike lanes not being used is particularly galling. It demonstrates a fundamental ignorance of the need for an integrated network, or at least vital pieces of that network, to be available before people can build a lifestyle around it. The very people who would do so are indeed not the majority today, but we are an important minority; the people willing to make healthy lifestyle changes and choices to change the health outcomes that are typical of Chatham-Kent today. I will look for the replay of council on cable, but I do wonder: did the YMCA make a deputation? Did the Chatham-Kent public health unit? What about Tecumseh School? I’m sorry I missed the ones who were there.
I was there for awhile, John, as you know. When I saw how far down we were on the agenda, I left to meet another parent about our sons’ basketball team. And then with my young son home alone, I did not make it back to council. Clearly even more education needs to be done. I thought it was so obvious. I see thriving cities internationally moving so solidly in the direction of biking and walking/jogging paths. Perhaps we need to link to more pictures/videos of best practices around the world? This is such a major trend that reading any international news makes it hard to miss! And that we compete internationally for our future citizens, who form our tax base, is obvious as well, speaking as a mother whose oldest son will soon depart for Thailand.
Thank you very much to Thomas Kelly for the clear and strong actions to date to plan for a genuinely healthy urban environment. Here we have an educated and professional opinion expressed so strongly, approve this project or cease directing bike lane planning you will not implement. It is still not enough to wake up some of our councillors. My thanks to the ten members of Chatham-Kent council for listening to reason, following strategic plans, and for voting in favour of our community health. Please let a concerned citizen know what can be done to help move us forward. I prefer proactive ways to work together and move forward for the health of ourselves and our community. I have worked in many contexts to move change without resorting to legal action, usually an expensive route and therefore ‘the court of last resort’. I am reminded of standing up for gender equality in membership fees at a golf club and telling my son that we are a membership organization, we do not sue our own club to make change! But in the end, after six years of active effort, I made the decision to stand for legal action if necessary. Thankfully, in that case it did not become necessary. Do we really have to wait until citizens are ready to sue their own government, to make the necessary changes to support health? Is it not supposed to be a strategic priority? I would like to go on record here and now, that if legal action is necessary, it has my support.
With that in mind, and of course in the hope that we avoid this route, my request to John Norton and to all councillors who voted against bike lanes on McNaughton Avenue: Please read this comment made by John Sigurjonsson in an email sent to you and copied to all members of municipal council dated Sunday, October 20:
“With respect to McNaughton Avenue West, the MTO guidelines provide that, given the traffic volumes and speeds as recently measured, bike lanes are required. Thus in case of any injury to cyclists on McNaughton Avenue West in the absence of bike lanes the municipality will be subject to legal liability.”
Mr. Norton, in your opinion, is that a true statement? I am asking for your opinion on that statement to be made publicly. I fully understand that a legal answer is almost always a nuanced one, one can only know for sure what a legal outcome will be when an actual court decision is made. Please know that if there is any bike accident of any kind on that roadway, I for one would actively encourage the case to be pursued to the full extent of the law.
This latest email to councillors was sent only the day before last evening’s vote, so perhaps some councillors missed it. It sounds as if, from the report below, the potential legal liability issue was not addressed directly at council last evening. Let us do so now, before there is any need to do so. I speak now with the hope that we will act to ensure that such a circumstance does not arise. We cannot remain wilfully blind to our legal obligations to protect our citizens first and foremost, and our municipality.
The “four Es” rule, Engineering, Education, Encouragement, and Enforcement, is a good one, thanks John. I will share these comments at the YMCA, the media, wherever I can think of, to engage more awareness. If I must resort to driving a car to get safely around my community when a healthy and safe and life-changing active living opportunity is not only recommended by our administration, but supported by the majority of council, and is a requirement for the safe and legal transportation of children, I will stand up vocally for it. I am optimistic that fully informed and educated councillors will be open to rethink their decision.
To help facilitate an informed and reasoned discussion, I ask that councillors who voted against McNaughton Avenue bike lanes please let me know why. If there is information I am missing I am open to hearing it. While I very much appreciate a timely response, given that the issue is current, I know this is but one item on your busy agendas. In any event, I expect to continue to speak up for this option until all issues noted above are resolved or the bike lane is complete, as an important piece in an evolving network of active lifestyle lanes.
Thank you kindly for your attention to this matter. And my thanks especially to those at Cycle CK who have actively worked for years to create a healthier community and raise public awareness.
Regards,
Maureen Geddes
