Editor:
An open letter to Burnaby mayor and council about the City of Burnaby’s Growing Communities Fund grant:
Advancing Cycling for Everyone (ACE – Burnaby) welcomes and celebrates the recent provincial government announcement that the City of Burnaby is to receive a one-time grant of $28.8 million from the new provincial Growing Communities Fund.
This grant is being provided to the City of Burnaby to help keep up with growing demands from our community, and is intended to support projects that will benefit our community for years to come such as improving and growing municipal infrastructure to meet the demands of our fast-growing city.
The timing of this funding could not be better. The City of Burnaby is in urgent need of new, improved, and dedicated cycling infrastructure that will help the City achieve its climate action and transportation plan targets by creating a comprehensive and connected cycling network that is safe and accessible for people of ‘All Ages and Abilities’ (AAA).
We therefore urge you to give priority to AAA cycling infrastructure projects when allocating this funding to expedite and expand on the creation of a city-wide network of high quality connected cycling routes, and to ensure that we achieve both, the Transportation Plan targets for road safety and mode-share shift, as well as Climate Action Framework commitments for reducing carbon emissions and energy use.
ACE Burnaby is very prepared and willing to work with the City to fine tune and pinpoint improvements to exiting cycling infrastructure projects. ACE is well equipped to help identify pinch points and trouble spots with a goal to improve connectivity between the north and south neighbourhoods of Burnaby and to improve safety by adding bike buttons at selected intersections, repairing pathways, identifying cycle paths without adequate lighting, adding secure bike lockups at public facilities, and updating way-finding and directional signage.
Respectfully yours,
David Fairey
Member ACE - Burnaby
