Bikes lanes can sometimes be littered with gravel, glass, recycling and other debris that can pose safety hazards for cyclists.
Chilliwack resident Drew Brayshaw said he’s noticed the lack of street-cleaning behind the new bollards that came with the new protected bikes lanes along Young Road at Berkeley Avenue.
He snapped a photo Wednesday of a city sweeper truck trying to manoeuvre around the barriers near the intersection.
Brayshaw emailed the pic to City of Chilliwack to say that although they proactively installed the protective bike lanes to make things safer for cyclists, there was obviously no accompanying requirement for staff to have them swept to protect cyclists from tire-slashing incidents.
“They are full of gravel and broken glass and cigarette butts,” he told The Progress about the bike lanes. “They have not been cleaned since the snow melted. I have already popped one tire here and I don’t doubt other riders have as well.”
The new bike lane facilities are physically separated from traffic with bollards, which were recommended in the Cycle Vision Plan. Council adopted the Cycle Vision in 2017 to improve the cycling network, build more bike lanes and achieve some quick wins.
The avid cyclist suggested in his message that it might be a planning problem that could be addressed by dispatching someone with a broom occasionally. Brayshaw was delighted to receive a quick response from city staff within an hour to say that the service request for action was in the hands of public works crews.
“They said they’d fix it,” he reported. “Hopefully my email will get them to clean it more regularly going forward instead of a one-off thing.
READ MORE: Cycle Vision maps out network of bike routes
READ MORE: Introducing the Valley Rail Trail
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