Community members detailed accidents and impacts from bike owner and canine proprietor interactions at Bark Park.
City workers have been taken to job on Tuesday afternoon following a report to handle security issues on the No. 3 Road off-leash canine park, higher generally known as Bark Park.
The report got here following a petition from former metropolis council candidate Jerome Dickey seeking physical separation between dogs and cyclists in the area and a public session late final 12 months.
It was met with criticism on the March 26 parks, recreation and cultural companies committee assembly, with the variety of reported incidents being highlighted by councillors and members of the general public alike.
According to metropolis and Richmond RCMP data, there have been no “formal security incident studies relating to conflicts between cyclists, rollers, pedestrians and/or dogs and/or their homeowners” at Bark Park.
However, workers acknowledged on the committee assembly park customers have raised security issues.
Anecdotes from residents additionally paint a unique image.
The committee heard from Julie Halsey-Brandt, whose French bulldog was nicked by a bike owner in a using group. Rather than stopping, the bike owner cursed at her.
Karen Yamada, knowledgeable canine walker who walks dogs along with her particular wants son, additionally recalled her son’s struggles after witnessing aggressive behaviour directed towards a canine proprietor by a bike owner who had hit the canine.
Although the canine was wonderful, Yamada stated she needed to spend “many days” serving to her son deal with the trauma.
“I fear concerning the subsequent incident that my son has to witness. What will occur if our canine is hit? We should fear concerning the trauma that he sustains from that incident whereas all people walks away,” stated Yamada.
“Bikes and dogs simply don’t combine. And but the town is placing each in severe hazard by combining the 2.”
When requested concerning the discrepancy between person anecdotes and the assertion within the report, metropolis workers clarified that whereas they did hear feedback about incidents on the park, they solely referred to information from the town bylaws division, Richmond RCMP and the parks division’s customer support.
Coun. Laura Gillanders, who remarked she was “somewhat bowled over” by the assertion, referred to incidents the place ambulances have been known as to take care of injured cyclists and recommended workers embrace info from BC Emergency Health Services. She added the assertion might be “fairly offensive” to park customers.
The sentiment was echoed by Coun. Carol Day, who talked about the report included survey outcomes containing anecdotes about unsafe interactions however didn’t embrace this info when discussing the dearth of formal studies.
Coun. Bill McNulty additionally voiced issues concerning the lack of a proper course of to report all incidents at Bark Park and the potential liabilities confronted by the town.
According to workers, canine bites or related incidents must be reported to BC SPCA whereas bike owner and human incidents are beneath the purview of Richmond RCMP.
Discontentment with public session course of
Proposed enhancements detailed within the workers report embrace a multi-use gravel path at the very least 4 metres vast, a split-rail fence alongside the north aspect of the multi-use path, an off-leash zone encompassing your entire web site north of the split-rail fence and a path not more than two metres vast contained in the off-leash space for individuals to walk their dogs alongside the riverfront.
Staff additionally recommended including a connection east of the No. 3 Road pump station to permit cyclists utilizing Dyke Road to bypass parking tons and safely transition to the multi-use path, and new signage to remind e-scooters they aren’t allowed on unpaved trails.
The recommended enhancements would cost about $207,000 and could be funded by the 2024 parks basic improvement initiatives.
In a 14-page report back to metropolis council, native resident Judith Hutson slammed the town workers report for failing to adequately analysis and handle issues of safety on the off-leash canine park.
She advised the committee the town workers report did not seize the present state of the park, particularly the rise in cyclists and sorts of bikes used on the paths.
The engagement course of was additionally flawed, Hutson added, as inaccurate info was supplied and the survey failed to incorporate a query about customers’ security issues.
“The parks division didn’t take the time to check the problems,” she stated.
She added it was a “vital misstep” for the parks division to neglect addressing issues of safety on the park following the dyke upgrades that have been accomplished in 2022. For instance, sharp gravel that minimize the dogs’ paws was added and shade timber have been eliminated with out consulting park customers.
Hutson recommended the town ought to reroute the bikes out of Bark Park whereas issues of safety are being resolved, emphasizing that “security has to drive all these choices.”
“I do not wish to paint all cyclists as nasties,” she clarified, including most cyclists utilizing the park are “mild and compliant” however the issue lies with those that journey at speeds of 50 to 60 kilometres per hour, e-bike customers and biking teams that do not journey in a single file.
Other group members additionally raised points such because the velocity of bikes, the parks division’s survey methodology, the dearth of an avenue to report incidents on the park and the lack of expertise that Bark Park is an off-leash canine park, with some suggesting Bark Park be made completely a canine park.
In response to group issues, workers advised the committee the positioning shouldn’t be a straightforward one to vary attributable to its historical past of utilization and its surrounding surroundings, however there are some visitors calming measures in place and extra gadgets have been ordered.
While councillors applauded the workers’s effort in getting ready the report, they didn’t help the proposed enhancements.
“I do not assume that we have recognized the security points but. I do not assume we have recognized what the actual issues are. And I do not assume we have options to them,” stated McNulty, who recommended talking with Hub Cycling and visiting the positioning to raised perceive the security issues.
Staff directed to take quick motion
Rather than continuing with metropolis workers’s solutions on enhancements, Coun. Michael Wolfe put ahead a movement to ask workers to do extra analysis on the problems.
City workers have been requested to look into enhancements for the car parking zone and west entry, similar to everlasting bike obstacles and enhanced blackberry management.
They can even have to investigate and prioritize two extra choices to both designate an unique biking or multi-use path on the northernmost aspect of the prevailing tree line, or widen the prevailing decrease center path and separate bike visitors from different modes of use with fencing.
The movement goals for the committee to determine by May so work can happen from summer season to fall.
As properly, workers are requested to “instantly” put in obstacles to stop cyclists from utilizing the raised portion of the southern dyke at each ends of the canine park.
In response to McNulty’s issues concerning the lack of know-how of the problems, workers recommended they might take quick measures to handle security issues by implementing signage and extra barricades, earlier than scheduling an on-site assembly with metropolis councillors to debate Wolfe’s referral and different issues.
The movement acquired unanimous help from the committee.
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