G-V Circuit update: park officials to meet with cyclists

[Oyez Oyez]

G-V Circuit update: park officials to meet with cyclists

par Oyez Oyez » Jeu Juin 11, 2009 6:00 pm

I talked to Nathalie Lessard, the spokesperson for the Parc Jean-Drapeau and the director of sustainable development, about the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit situation (two posts down).

The problem, of course: the PJD counted 27 bike accidents between May and September 2008 and three in the first three weeks of May 2009. Deeming it enough to warrant action, officials decided on a few measures: to increase the number of speed limit signs (30 km/hour), install "jerseys" in three locations to slow everyone down, and to force any speed cyclists to move to the newly repaved Olympic basin track.

Those accident
stats are pulled from thousands of patrol and police reports, which include only limited data about the various crashes. They do not
know which of those accidents involved speed racers, but they do know
that 12 of them involved ambulances.

What's interesting is that there are no statistics of accidents from any other year; we only know the park, or the city, decided to look into it now.

It's also interesting that no cycling groups were consulted - and Lessard volunteered that she was not a cyclist herself.

Racers are up in arms, of course, and hundreds have written letters and emails. Lessard said many of them contained ideas of "what we should have considered," as if the Park hadn't already considered them; she added that many suggestions - like reserving a lane at a certain time for racers - would be too expensive. (This is where she departed into logic I didn't understand: a lane only for speed cyclists would mean they'd have to close down the whole park? What? Why?)

What's so bad about all this is that PJD went ahead and renovated the Olympic basin, apparently as as a sort of gift to the speed cyclists, without discussing it first with them. I imagine that those repairs cost quite a lot
of money, which looks like it might be wasted now.

This is why public democratic processes, such as public
consultations, are important in cities: they put options on the table
for everybody to see and to discuss.

As for the "danger" these cyclists pose, I am just not sure - i.e. I
am not convinced - that we know enough about these 27 accidents for it
to force such a drastic move. Is 27 really that high? Is it really all
the fault of racers?

What has likely happened is that the
number of cyclists -in general- has increased in Parc Jean-Drapeau, and
this is a (new?) sustainability director's mismanaged anxiety with
figuring out how to deal with it. The Olympic basin may still be a
solution; perhaps more can be done to fix the path, like rounding the
corners *particularly on the south side *, eliminating potholes, etc.

The good news is that the mass of negative feedback has forced the park to meet with the
Federation Québecoise des Sportes Cyclistes and Vélo Québec, likely
early next week, to discuss alternatives. But "we're not going to meet
with all cycling clubs," Lessard said.

What I fear is that this is proof of the park's further descent into the realm of a private theme park. The way Lessard talked about her five-million "visitors" each year sounds like they can't understand that the park also has functional, diverse uses for people, which I think is a good thing.

I applaud the park for realising, albeit late, that it's important to meet with cycling groups, and I'm happy that Lessard appears open
to new ideas. But even if a solution is found, the
insult to cycling
groups, and cyclists as a whole, has already been made.

I hope that some readers will be involved in these meetings and can report back on what logic they are working with in this situation.

The Vélodrome is sorely missed today, hey?

[img:512:384]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_TVey1zSxcwc/SjCHPjbkw3I/AAAAAAAAAQU/zloECELZClc/s512/100_6306.JPG[/img]

The Olympic basin: sharp turns, rowers, a picnic table in the middle of the track


Author: kelabells
Category: newsGilles-Villeneuve circuit
Publish Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:24:00 GMT

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