It’s third time lucky for bicycle lanes on 2nd Avenue East in Owen Sound.
Grey County council gave approval on Tuesday to create metre-wide bike lanes on both sides of the road between the Jubilee Bridge and Harrison Park.
Owen Sound had asked for approval on two previous occasions, but was denied both times due to what the county said were safety concerns.
Approval was needed from Grey because that section of pavement is a county road – Grey Road 5.
Owen Sound Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners applauds the decision, saying it’s consistent with planning at both the city and county level to increase physical activity.
The mayor says the bike lanes won’t be the same width as those which have been created on other county roads. Those lanes are generally one-and-a-half metres wide.
But one metre will be wide enough in this instance because the speed limit for vehicles is 50 kilometres per hour as opposed to 80 km/h on roads where other bike lanes exist.
A bylaw also passed on Tuesday will now prohibit parking along 2nd Avenue East, in order to facilitate the bike lanes.
Objections have previously been made by residents of the area in question. Many people did not want to see the elimination of on-the-street parking.
Lovell Stanners says not only has there not been much parking of that type lately, she personally believes it’s unsafe in the first place in that location, considering all the hilly stretches on the approach to Harrison Park.
The lanes will be created later this year when the county repaves the road.
