Re: “Council backpedals on one-way High Street,” June 11
We moved to Nelson from Squamish in November 2019 and purchased the house shown in the picture you printed: 41 High Street. Our cars are also visible parked on the right hand side.
We were very disappointed to see that after what seemed like a very democratic process with respect to the options presented to council for the High Street bike lane and a clear date set for the vote, that ultimately the outcome was very undemocratic, overturning the decision that your paper printed the previous week.
It would appear to me that the mayor and some of his friends decided the one-way southbound traffic and separated bike lane did not serve their or perhaps their supporters’ interests and quashed the decision made earlier. As an alternative they have presented really no change — a speed bump, a speed limit of 30 km/h, which I might add is already the speed limit, which no one respects. They also mentioned making biking accessible to all ages.
We have a nine-month-old baby and to be perfectly honest crossing the road to our cars is a death-defying act. People race around that corner far exceeding the speed limit daily and it is very dangerous. Not to mention that if there is no separated bike lane I have no idea how the biking will be accessible to all ages as there is no shoulder and the other side of the road has the sidewalk.
What we do see is most people using the sidewalk to bike on. This road feels very unsafe and we were so happy with the democratic decision council made that was very transparent and well communicated, versus the more recent nepotistic decision. It’s super disappointing as a taxpayer and homeowner on High Street. I suppose it might take a serious accident for them to change their minds.
Tanya Skok Hobbs
Nelson
