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Parking on McNair |
The popularity of riding on the North Shore has been increasing steadily. As a result we are experiencing some growing pains and parking issues on Seymour and Fromme have been brought to the attention of North Van council. On June 23rd, after many meetings and much public consultaton, council voted 6 to 1 to approve a plan aimed at alleviating the concerns of residents living at the bottom of Fromme.
Mount Fromme has some of the best riding in the world. There is a yellow gate at the top of Mountain Highway which forces riders to pedal up the gravel fireroad that leads to the trails. The hill starts long before the gate though and most riders park as high as possible to conserve energy. That has meant that McNair, the last street where parking is permitted has become very busy on weekends and evenings.
Jim "PD" Pavila of the nsmbA
addresses council
Parking on McNair will become residents only and on Coleman, the next street down the mountain, there will be a 2-hour time limit. There is very little doubt in my mind that this change will only displace the problem and the next batch of residents, further down Mountain Highway, will be up in arms in short order. In my view a more reasonable solution would have been to allocate a portion of the parking on McNair for residents, spreading the impact of riders over a wider area. This would ensure that residents have room to park and it would also reduce traffic flow and the density of riders in a given area.
Residents had concerns beyond finding a place to park their SUVs. In previous meetings individuals and groups cited litter, noise, fast moving vehicles, riders changing their clothes and even blocking driveways. There is no question that these issues have occurred and it is a shame that mountain bikers, like any group, have members who are inconsiderate. At the same time several residents I spoke to at the meeting admitted that the vast majority of the riders are courteous and respectful and that many residents were overstating these impacts in order to strengthen their case. I have never seen riders driving too fast in the area but I have seen residents speeding by while leaning on the horn.
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Only one
councillor was against the plan and he even went as far as to suggest
that the trails on Fromme be dismantled. If you are a mountain biker
do not vote for Ernie Crist in the next election. Richard Walton on
the other hand, while being sensitive to the needs of residents, is
clearly an advocate for mountain bikers - let's make sure he is re-elected. |
I was impressed by the way the North Van council handled this issue for
the most part. They realize the positive influence of mountain biking in
this community from a social and economic standpoint and they realize it
isn't going away. We can thank the hard work of the nsmbA
for this - particularly Dave Diplock - as well as individuals like Peter
Morin and Hoots Jay. If these riders hadn't taken the time to attend these
council meetings and to prepare and speak passionately about these issues,
we might today be mourning the loss of the trails on Fromme.
Take a moment to review the district plan that was passed last night. Expect
to see the signs outlining the new parking regulations some time in July.
When you are starting or finishing a ride, anywhere in the world, please be courteous and sensitive to the people around you so we will be able to continue riding great trails.
