The District of Squamish has launched a survey on a new plan that will replace an existing bike lane with a sidewalk on Perth Drive.
Last spring, the District conducted a survey about traffic calming and active transportation on Highlands Way North and Perth Drive, which indicated strong public support for active transportation improvements on Perth Drive.
The proposed design for this improvement included adding a sidewalk and bike lanes in both directions on Perth Drive.
The District applied for grant funding for this project but was not successful and will not be able to complete the upgrades. The District says an alternative is to upgrade just the west side of Perth Drive initially, but this requires a different design as less space is available. In this design, the existing bike lane on the west side of Perth Drive would be removed and replaced with a sidewalk in the short-to-medium term.
In the longer term, when funding is available to upgrade the east side, bike lanes would be constructed on both sides of the street, the District says.
However, if residents are not supportive of replacing the downhill bike lane with a sidewalk, the District would continue to look for options to complete the full build. The timeline for this full upgrade would be dependent on funding becoming available and would be very uncertain.
The District is seeking feedback from the public through a short survey to know if the public supports replacing the existing downhill bike lane with a sidewalk for the short/medium term.
The District will continue to explore options for additional funding to complete the upgrade in the longer term. The survey will be open until June 5, 2022.
