Council’s decision not to revisit the notion to add bike lanes along a portion of McNaughton Avenue West at its Oct. 21 meeting resulted in the implosion of the active communities steering committee.
John Jordan, vice chair of the committee, said he and five others resigned that night, while a seventh stepped down the next morning.
Lynn O’Brien, chair, confirmed the mass exodus.
“There is no point in having a committee if they (councillors) are not going to follow through with what it was tasked to do,” she said.
Jordan agreed.
“In other words, the whole committee has been gutted,” Jordan said. “It was quite apparent that once council voted to turn down reconsidering the bike lanes, the message coming from council is that they are no longer interested in hearing the messages coming from us.
“Our points are not being respected. If they aren’t going to listen to advisory committees, why have them?”
The committee advised council to approve the bike lanes for McNaughton West, removing parking along the north side in the process. The initial request came to council, with administration’s recommendations, in August, and was defeated.
Coun. Anne Gilbert sought to bring the matter back for debate Oct. 21, and needed a two-thirds majority vote by council to do so. The motion fell two votes short.
Wallaceburg Coun. Sheldon Parsons is one of two municipal representatives on the steering committee. He first learned of the mega-resignation when contacted by The Chatham Voice.
“It’s unfortunate. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by it,” he said. “Council has a habit of saying one thing and doing something else.”
Parsons credited the committee for putting in a lot of time and effort.
“They did a lot of good work. I would hope they’d reconsider,” he said. “I’m not sure what will happen with the committee now.”
Jordan was incredulous and spared no vitriol when discussing council’s actions.
“They voted in favour of an unsafe street,” he said. “They have failed in their challenge and not shown any leadership at all.”
O’Brien said council isn’t seeing the bigger picture.
“It’s sad; disillusioning,” she said. “When are we going to have a community that’s progressive? All the writing is on the wall. People are leaving. Why? To go to communities that are progressive.”
Parsons was also critical of people who sit at the same table as he does.
“They don’t see the future. They see the past and they see the present,” he said. “There are some voices that got to members of council and unfortunately council made the wrong decision.”
Of the eight councillors who voted against reconsidering the McNaughton West bike lanes, three – Doug Sulman, Bob Myers and Michael Bondy – are Chatham representatives.
Bondy said he listened to his constituents.
“It seemed like the people who came to talk to me were supportive of council’s decision. They got the idea that bike paths aren’t very well used,” he said. “Council made a decision to not spend the extra money and not fix what’s not broken.”
Bondy said the existing bike lanes aren’t being well used, so he found it difficult to support more of them.
“I’m a cyclist. And I also run on Victoria Avenue a lot, where bike lanes were installed about three years ago,” he said. “I hate to say it, but they are not very well used.”
Bondy said he prefers the concept of bike trails as opposed to bike lanes.
“Bike lanes don’t seem to work. For what they cost, I don’t know if we should be prioritizing non-connected bike lanes.”
In terms of the steering committee, Parsons doesn’t know how to proceed from here.
“I don’t know what more we can do if the councillors in the ward don’t want it,” he said. “Maybe the active communities steering committee has it right – stop trying. Maybe we can reenergize the committee and concentrate on the outlying communities.”
It is good that you have provided the reasons for your NO vote to bike lanes, Michael. A principled decision takes much more, however, than listening to "the people who came to talk to you". As my elected representative, I count on you to listen to all the facts, to understand not only the historical and current situation but also the bigger picture trends, and put it all into the context of our strategic direction. That responsibility includes championing change, even if it is not popular. We have among the highest rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more – in the entire province. Relatively speaking, we are not healthy. We do not have active lifestyles. We are not raising healthy children. The privileged minority – a very small number in this case! – who did not want to lose their parking for something that is 'not used' do not speak for our children, and they definitely do not speak for a healthy future. Your Active Lifestyles Committee – educated community voices – spoke loud and clear, and you ignored them. Change can be very hard. By analogy, just because a healthy diet does not always taste good at first, does not mean you say the hell with it and eat all the chocolate you want (I've tried it). You keep making healthier choices, and eventually the good habits outweigh the bad, and it pays off. What you have done, as part of a privileged class of healthy and fit people, is to refuse to create the environment that promotes good exercise habits for many others, to say nothing of the people who need the bike infrastructure as affordable transportation. It is akin to feeding children junk food, because they don't like and don't want "that healthy stuff". You voted to maintain a car-friendly infrastructure, one of the key elements that urban design 101 would tell you, as your professional staff told you bluntly and in no uncertain terms, is out of date and seriously broken. I simply do not care that the lanes are not yet well used. Giving women the vote was not popular. Integration was not popular. Taking junk food machines out of the schools was not popular. A principled and informed and ethical decision may not be popular, but it is your job to make it. You have made a lot of good decisions as a councilor, Michael, and this was definitely not one of them. This decision fails our children, and it fails our community, and it fails our future as an active lifestyle community for the demographic we are attempting to attract and retain to maintain our communities. My request: Own it, fix it, and move on. Step one: own it.
Thank you Maureen for your words. Shame on those with such lack of foresight! You are appreciated for standing forward! Peace.
I'm discouraged by the lack of vision by these councillors. To use the rationale of bike lanes that are 'not well used' seems weak. To use a similar argument, one could say we should not support bike helmets in this city as they too, are 'not well used'. I'd love to have my teen take her bike to work across town, but without a proper bike lane, the only safe option is riding on the sidewalk. Then again, there's the safety consideration of pedestrians. It seems the vocal minority of a few residents wanting to preserve their precious street parking have won the day. Doug Sulman, Bob Myers, Michael Bondy- I'll be only too pleased to share your short-sighted views with others in the hope that come next election, we might see some change in our representation.
Please tell them!
council@chatham-kent.ca
Well said!! Backwards thinking yet again!!
I'm flabbergasted, disgusted and disappointed. Thank you to the councillors who did vote to reopen the discussion. Shame on the three that voted against it! SHAME!
Shame on you Michael Bondy. I would think that you would have supported these bike lanes. Progressive thinking doesn't appear to be happening on our current council even with our current strategic plan. I will remember who not to vote for at the next election.
Strike two against the collective mindset of City Council… and that's just today's count from two articles I've seen posted on this site.
Well this seems like a chicken and egg scenario. Perhaps bike lanes aren't "well used" because they are not well planned and well connected? Education and awareness needs to be part of this process, but first we need the infrastructure in place to set the environment for safe biking. Considering that part of McNaughton passes by Tecumseh Elementary School, and St. Clair College and is also a route for students going to John Uyen and Lady of Fatima, not to mention that it's a common thoroughfare across the north side of the city, I fail to understand how it would not be used. I really don't understand how we can possibly choose parking over bike lanes especially when it's part of the strategic plan. Chatham-Kent has high rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Creating the environment and infrastructure that will encourage active healthier habits is a small step that requires the vision and support of our elected officials.
Thanks Janice! We need to make our community healthy and active. Council just doesn't get it!
Beautifully articulated, Maureen. I for one greatly appreciate the time you've taken to express your opinion. Sadly, I suspect your words will fall on deaf ears to those who voted against the bike lanes – but I hope and trust the longer term take away from decisions like this by City Council is that it will ultimately be remembered as yet one more eye-opener to guide us come voting time.
Bondy's comments leave me incredulous. Don't fix what's not broken!!!! – he somehow misses the fact that the whole concept of safe cycling in Chatham is broken . There was a program started that would slowly develop a network of bike lanes – this kind of decision puts the stick in wheel and stops some progressive activity. Councillors that would not support this kind of project should look at the research that shows what young people look for when choosing a place to apply their imagination and skills .An active community is always high on the list . Councillors should recognize – tho many don't , what kind of message is sent by their actions For years C. Sulman has talked about the need to attract and keep young people – this is one more example of the talk being greater than the action.
Take a location that is perfect for bikes and make it dangerous to ride them. No progressive views at all and no concept of needing infrastructure that works.
In an ideal world, Chatham-Kent is filled with bike lanes and happy active cyclists that use them on a daily basis. But let's get back to the real world for a moment. I am a long-distance runner. I run along many of the streets of Chatham, including those that are already equipped with bike lanes. To my surprise, majority of them are empty from bikes and cyclists most of the time. The question is: what purpose does it serve if we build bike lanes that almost nobody is going to use? I am not against the idea of moving towards the ideal situation, but I am also an advocate for understanding the reality and respecting that.
The research around the effectiveness of infrastructure in encouraging people to get more active comes with mixed results. In other words, it is not clear that if we cover our city with bike lanes we would see more engagement from our citizens.
Of course, a valid argument is the safety of cyclists. The question is that how safer are the bikers in a bike lane comparing to travelling on the pavement or on their favourite paths, sidewalks? I don’t know the answer, but I have seen, firsthand, that many cyclists on routes equipped with bike lanes prefer to ride their bikes on the sidewalk.
If the bike lanes do not encourage activity that much, and if they do not serve the existing cyclists that much, somebody please explain to me the reasons we need to spend money on them.
And Toronto announced they will be adding bike lanes to Bloor Street and we cant add the same to McNaughton…disgusting!!!
It's politics Derek, politicians are only interested in lining their pockets with more money or getting favors. You should know this by now, just look at our current gov't and all the corruption going on there. It won't be until someone dies that action is taken and it can make them look like hero's for doing something about it.
Thanks Chad….I'll take your comments to heart during my next campaign.
Thanks Chad….I'll take your comments to heart during my next campaign.
Chad, our current politicians are in power because we elected them. If the majority is demanding change then they need to be willing to vote it. This speaks to municipal as well as higher levels. If we're not willing to vote for that change then we only have ourselves to blame.
"The Corporation of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is a proud, proactive, progressive team committed to innovation and leadership through the provision of services enhancing the quality of life in our community"
That's the mission statement for our municipality.
This, the lack of a tree bylaw are indicative of a council that is a train wreck, that has lost its way. I was at a meeting last night about the Wallaceburg Pool. Operated by the Muni. but owned by the School Board, there has been no operating agreement since amalgamation. This what we are paying a quarter of a billion dollars a year for? Staff are confident that it will be kept open and operating, I wish I shared their optimism.
bloor not a great idea
McNaughton yes
Our municipality is smarter than any others in Ontario as can be witnessed by the lack of a tree bylaw Michael. :-I
Less than 40% of the electorate actually cast their ballot last municipal election. That means six in 10 of us have no right to complain about the sad state of the current municipal government because we didn't take the time to help shape it (yet our indifference had a huge impact).
Our current council give lip service to supporting a more active community but they do not have the courage or foresight to do what it takes to make this a reality in our community. Mr Kelly (General Manager | Infrastructure and Engineering Services | Municipality of Chatham-Kent) gave an informative presentation and stated that there could not be a better business case for having bike lanes on McNaughton. A guest speaker who uses his bike as his only means of transportation pleaded with council to have more bike lanes. Unfortunately this information fell on deaf ears. Shame on our current Council! They are hypocrites.
You better run in the next election for council
things in Chatham have not changed for years
"Creating the environment and infrastructure that will encourage active healthier habits is a small step that requires the vision and support of our elected officials."…..well said Janice.
Well said Sandra.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/on_biking_why_cant_the_us_learn_lessons_from_europe/2425/
Maybe they should spend some money painting pictures of bicycles in the middle of the road.
Maybe they should spend some money painting pictures of bicycles in the middle of the road.
Thomas Smith I was in Toronto today. I took this picture in Bloor Street West. Now you be the judge. Who really needs a bike line: the Bloor Street or the McNaughton Ave?
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1383931_712497975434848_1652968410_n.jpg
Anita Markert
Looking at bike routes view on Google Maps (which to be fair is not 100% accurate) there are a lot of fragments of bike path and bike lane in Chatham, but not many coherent routes from A to B. McNaughton would have joined up a lot of the pieces. I think the committee was trying to solve that problem, so that cycling would be a more viable and attractive option.