I am writing to express my dismay at the 4-3 vote at City Council on January 22 to proceed with staff-recommended changes on the last two blocks of St. Andrews from Keith to 9th Street. Many of my neighbours are equally disappointed in this decision.
Mayor Buchanan-led Council had multiple opportunities to halt this unnecessary project on these six blocks of St. Andrews. Doing so would have required leadership from the elected officials to pause the project and direct staff to take a long, hard look at alternative designs. That did not happen—leadership was denied.
Instead, the staff hired three consultants: two to review the design and a third to conduct a pseudo-public engagement process.
Initially, the Council had directed staff to devise a plan to slow speeds on the street, but staff made this about far more than speed. After two months of backlash from the public, the Mayor and Council apologized for how this project was rolled out and how it was communicated. They promised to do better. That did not happen – leadership was denied again.
Design decisions made by staff ensured that speeds and traffic volumes remained high through the September to October 2022 monitoring period. They made unsubstantiated claims that the two businesses at 8th and St. Andrews were the cause of high traffic volume in the 700 block. They also said drivers did not use the street to bypass congestion elsewhere. Both are false.
Their decisions provided them with the data to justify the need for a protected bike lane while allowing them to dismiss HUB cycling and residents’ recommendation for a Neighbourhood bikeway.
The final straw came on January 22 when Council voted to approve the final changes to the street between Keith and 9th. The vote was 3-3, with Councillors Back, Bell and Shahriari voting against, all with sound reasons for doing so. It certainly sounded like those who voted in favour, Couns. Valente, Girard, and McIlroy held their noses and voted yes, with Girard adding that the selected concept was a “good option” for keeping everyone happy. It didn’t and won’t “keep everyone happy.”
At that moment, the message to Mayor Buchanan was clear: do the right thing and vote against the recommendation. But Mayor Buchanan voted in favour, saying, “This has been a long and difficult conversation, and I think we can all agree that it’s time to move forward.”
We, the residents, disagree that it’s time to move forward, Mayor Buchanan. You failed your community and failed to lead and support staff at the expense of the public. From the beginning of this project, you had the opportunity to lead the way forward many times.
You did not. You kept denying what your community needed: Leadership.
It wasn’t an unnecessary project. Many residents, quite rightly, wanted traffic calmed on St Andrews. Some, like Mr Hilton, just don’t like that the city also included reconfigured parking and bike infrastructure in the plan – the residents’ “design proposal” was for a paint-only dooring lane in both directions which would’ve been very unsafe for people on bikes and speed humps and more stop signs which drivers tend to ignore. City staff rightly rejected it. Mr Hilton is upset that his group of residents didn’t get their way.
The Mayor of the City of North Vancouver had a role in the sewage treatment plant fiasco, but she is refusing to take responsibility for it. This is her SECOND term in office – 6 years in office so far – and word has it that she was Vice Chair to Metro Vancouver from 2018 to 2022! Before she took officeas mayor, she was a public health nurse. How much do you think public health nurses know about running a city? Now she is gaslighting and scapegoating others for what was definitely partially her responsibility. She and various long-term City of North Vancouver staff and heads of departments took part in what came to be the fiasco it is today. Shame, shame, shame on her and those cowards. She has failed her community in more than this. A pretty face means nothing. Do not elect this woman into a third term because a pretty face doesn’t guarantee good leadership! She failed you all.