New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services has reported no issues navigating a stretch of Sixth Street that’s been narrowed to create bike lanes.
Larry Church returned to council chambers on Jan. 9 to express concern about the new bike lanes on Sixth Street. Church told council that the lanes caused delays for ambulances on Dec. 13 and 14 because of congestion he attributed to the narrowing of the street to create bike lanes on both sides of the street.
“On the 14th, there was a truck that had to drive over the curb to allow the ambulance to pass and all the other vehicles had to struggle to find a way to allow these the ambulance to pass through,” he said. “Now, this becomes a life-safety issue when they can't respond fast enough to get through there. And with the narrowing of the streets, the narrowing of Sixth Street it has created a traffic congestion, as well as a hindrance for the emergency vehicles.”
According to Church, travel lanes on parts of Sixth Street have been narrowed to 22 feet, which he said is less than what’s required for fire services.
Coun. Daniel Fontaine questioned if there’s been any consultation with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services about the bike lanes and if there are any indications that first responders are being impeded by the new bike lanes on Sixth Street.
Acting fire Chief Erin Williams said he’s had no reports from any of his staff about their being impeded when responding to emergencies.
“We are in consultation with the engineering department whenever developments like this happen, and we do make sure that we have the desired allowances for our apparatus,” he said. “Our apparatus, the widest apparatus we have is just over three metres, so there is a lot of room on Sixth for us to pass through.”
Noting that the resident referenced ambulances, Fontaine asked staff if the city has been in contact with the BC Ambulance Service in the past four to six weeks regarding Sixth Street.
Lisa LeBlanc, the city’s director of engineering, said the city has a list of agencies it engages with when designing facilities like the bike lanes.
“The design guidelines that we follow take into account the requirements for emergency response, so there was nothing unusual done here in terms of in terms of the lane widths or what was designed,” she said. “So, as acting Chief Williams noted, the lane widths are sufficient in order to accommodate the needs of first responders.”
LeBlanc said the city is pleased to receive comments about the bike lanes.
“Similar to what Mr. Church has done this evening, we're pleased to receive comments through the various channels that are available to residents or others through the city's website,” she said. “It's helpful to know specifically what time and date and certain circumstances were so that we can connect directly with the agency that is of concern.”
Church, who has raised concerns about the bike lanes at previous meetings, also expressed concern that the bike lane have created safety issues for students getting off at the bus stop near New Westminster Secondary School. He said he witnessed 16 students getting off the front door of the bus and exiting directly into the bike lane.
“This is a situation where they're putting passengers at risk at the convenience of having a bike lane. Now, this bike lane, only one per cent of the (New Westminster Secondary School) students are using it. The majority are walking or taking transit. So this is not a safe situation here.”
Church believes the new bike lanes are contrary to the city’s master transportation plan, which puts walking at the top of its priorities. (In the city’s master transportation plan, walking is at the top of the hierarchy, followed by cycling and transit, and then commercial vehicles and cars.)
“It seems like the biking is dominating in this section of the Sixth Street. … My point is that walking is the top priority along this corridor, not the bike lanes,” he said.
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