Opinion

To be clear, Coun. Carrie Smart’s motion at the meeting on Feb. 27, supported by Couns. Andrew Appleton and Lesley Watson, was modest in the extreme. The motion called for staff to seek input from affected residents for a possible change to the traffic control order to make the Henderson Road bike path full-time, and to prepare the necessary amendments to bring back to council for a final decision.

I am writing to express my disappointment with the recent decision made by the Sidney mayor and a member of council to refuse referring the Active Transportation Plan to the town’s accessibility advisory committee. As a resident of the Saanich Peninsula and an advocate for accessibility, I believe this decision is a step backward for the community.

It is with great sadness and frustration I write this, as the possibility of losing the E&N Railway line forever is drawing closer. The fact that freight by rail would remove up to 25,000 truck trips annually and thus eliminate up to 3,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases makes the decision to retain the Island Rail, a no brainer. This coupled with an amazing opportunity to promote our tourism sector by offering rail trips up and down the Island.

I worked for UVic for 14 years and commuted by bicycle up and down Foul Bay from Oak Bay. I was hit by cars several times over that period and each time the driver said they did not know it was a bike lane.

I am a resident of Sidney who lives on Mills Road. I recently learned of the Town of Sidney’s Active Transportation Plan. Having now read the plan in its entirety, it proposes creating bike lanes on a number of streets, banning resident parking on those streets, creating cyclist-activated crossings on major thoroughfares and other measures to have “a safe and complete active transportation network that is connected and inviting.”

I want to express my dismay about the Town of Sidney’s plan to create bike lanes on Mills Road between Resthaven and Pat Bay. This will deeply affect – negatively – the elder population who reside in Resthaven Lodge, Sidney All Care, and Amica/Beechwood.

A local tenant is facing eviction due to fire code violations but wants to stay

Between the growth of our local population and the increase in visitors from out of town (shoppers, friends, etc.) it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a place to park in Sidney. The Town of Sidney’s recently proposed Active Transportation Plan seeks to restructure many of Sidney’s roads by adding bike lanes while removing viable driving space from our roads and parking spaces throughout the town.

Mayor Ryan Windsor in Central Saanich is again pushing for a wage increase. When one considers the approximately $20,000 a year he receives from local taxpayers for sitting on the CRD board, what other remuneration from other publicly funded committees does he collect? What is the total amount of money is he receiving from local taxpayers?

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