Mission's biggest cycling project gets a flat tire

One of the valley’s most ambitious pedestrian and cycling projects has hit a rough patch that could imperil its future.

As Mission sets to wrap up the first phase of a new cycling and pedestrian corridor bisecting the city, the design and future of the project has split council.

With no funding yet approved for the continuation of the route and complaints from the public, what happens next could depend on just how many cyclists and pedestrians use the new route—and whether drivers can figure out how to navigate a narrower roadway.

Mission’s 7th Avenue Greenway is intended to be the epitome of a modern pedestrian-and-cyclist-friendly corridor.

It will run, if constructed as envisioned, in an east-west direction straight through central Mission, from Wren Street on the west side of town past Mission’s high school and leisure centre, through Fraser River Heritage Park and all the way to Dewdney Trunk Road near Hatzic Lake. 7th Avenue is a wide artery; the greenway project would create curbs to move the portions of the road for travelling and parked vehicles to the south side of the street. On the north side, separated from traffic, protected bike lanes and a sidewalk have been built to provide a better environment for cyclists and pedestrians.

That was, and is, the idea. But the first phase of the project is now nearing completion and the reviews have been mixed, to say the least.

That first phase redesigned the road between Grand Avenue in central Mission and Fraser River Heritage Park. It cost around $2.5 million, though most of the money came from senior levels of government.

But the design, and how it has changed the experience for motorists on the route, has now split council in two and left the future of the rest of the project.

City staff appeared before council on Monday to provide a brief update on the project. Although originally planned for completion in August, staff now hope the route will be finished by next Monday, when Go By Bike Week starts.

But the discussion turned to whether the final project has created more safety problems than it fixed.

You can watch the discussion here. 

Coun. Angel Elias, who wasn’t on council when the project was approved, sparked a prolonged discussion by declaring that the design needed to be improved. Elias said that during a trio of three-hour observational visits to completed portions of the greenway, she witnessed an array of traffic near misses, and saw fire trucks and buses have difficulty navigating narrower sections of the road. At a convenience store along the route, she said she saw five different drivers hit a utility pole while backing out.

“I feel like there are many design flaws that have caused safety concerns,” she said. She said she would like to see the public surveyed to determine what to do next.

Elias’s criticism was echoed by Couns. Jag Gill—who had been the lone councillor opposing the project in 2021—and Ken Herar, who had voted in favour of the greenway.

Herar said feedback he had received has prompted him to have second thoughts.

“I believe the greenway puts drivers, seniors, and new drivers at risk,” he said, saying the narrowing of the road created new dangers.

Herar said he’d like to see the road and greenway redesigned, while Gill even floated the idea that it be removed altogether.

Prior to Monday’s meeting, staff had received questions and comments from residents about the greenway that were similar to those voiced by the three councillors.

A staff report said there is enough room on the roadway, that snow removal and storage will be possible, that curb encroachments on the street are intended to be traffic-calming devices, and that Mission’s fire chief said there are no problems with the Greenway.

Mayor Paul Horn bristled at the criticism, saying it was coming too soon, before the project had been completed and been given a chance to show its value.

“The project is not complete, we knew going into it that it was not the same as the multi-use path and… that we would have to build in time for people to adjust.”

Coun. Danny Plecas joined Horn, saying the greenway is untested over time. But he also added that the greenway had slowed down traffic “tremendously,” as intended.

“I recognize the lanes look narrow and it’s a bit of a challenge, but if you go down any street in Vancouver, they’re pretty narrow,” he said. “We’re criticizing it before we have an opportunity to see how it works out. We’re criticizing it from the point of view that we don’t like it because it’s disruptive to people’s lives. Whenever you build something in an area where you have an established neighbourhood like this, it is disruptive. But at the end of the day the idea is to improve the flow of traffic [and] also help people who are not motor-vehicle oriented.”

He added: “For people to feel safe they want to be away from the road.”

The politics and the future

The project’s current design has backers in Plecas and Horn, and while Coun. Carol Hamilton didn’t speak Monday, she did endorse the project in 2021.

But the comments from Elias, Herar, and Gill—three of seven councillors—left the greenway’s present design and future expansion on shaky ground after Monday. Perhaps the biggest question mark remaining was the stance of Coun. Mark Davies, who was absent.

Davies had voted for the project in 2021, but reached by phone Wednesday, Davies said he too has problems with how the greenway has turned out.

He said the project has changed 7th Avenue more than had been suggested by design renderings previously shown to council when they gave it their approval.

“I had seen a pedestrian struck on 7th and multiple near misses along 7th, so when I looked at that project, I was really looking at the pedestrian and traffic safety aspect of it—additional crosswalks, additional lighting, signalized intersections,” he told The Current.

“It has turned out to be a lot more invasive than what I envisioned. The imagery that we had that supported this project really didn’t highlight the size and impact that the curbing would have and how it was designed.”

He continued “When I look at the difference of visual appeal between what is being built on 7th versus what we had built on 14th for multi-purpose lanes, it’s a real evident difference.”

(Mission’s 14th Avenue also has sidewalks and bike lanes, but those lanes comprise a simple strip of asphalt just outside the standard roadway.

He said he agreed there were items in the design that needed fixed.

And he also suggested that going forward, designs of pedestrians and cycling facilities in Mission will look “considerably different.”

The second phase

At this point, it would appear the next decision made by council will not involve future phases of the greenway, but whether to change the just-built project.

If there’s one reassuring aspect for Mission taxpayers unhappy with the project, it’s the price tag so far—or rather, who has picked up the bulk of the cost.

Of the entire $2.7 million budget, $1.5 million was covered by a federal grant and another $500,000 came from the province. Mission’s share was just $731,380, and more than half of that was a contingency fund in case costs came in higher than expected.

The second phase of the project is not yet funded, though the city has applied for a grant to fund that extension. That second phase through the eastern half of Mission was expected to return to council within the next couple years for approval, a city spokesperson said.

Davies, though, said whatever comes next is unlikely to look like the redesigned section of road that has just been completed.

“I don’t think the public is ready for or willing to support a design that takes over the entire roadway like this first portion did.”