Although they readily approved more car-free days for this summer, Vancouver's mayor and council treated a "ciclovia" public-space-reallocation proposal with the utmost caution.

This means there will be car-free trials—called Summer Spaces—in Collingwood, Gastown, and Mount Pleasant and on Commercial Drive this summer. However, at the June 2 meeting of council's transportation and traffic committee, it was the ciclovia—proposed by the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition—that sparked the greatest debate. Council voted unanimously to adopt Coun. Geoff Meggs's amendment to approve the proposed ciclovia stretching from English Bay to Jericho Park "in principle", at a maximum cost of $50,000 for one day.

According to assistant city engineer Jerry Dobrovolny's report to the committee, "a ciclovia involves closing kilometres of city streets to vehicular traffic to provide a safer space for cycling, walking, aerobics, and other similar activities."

Ciclovia events are already happening in cities such as New York, Ottawa, Chicago, Portland, and Guadalajara, according to the report.

"The concept of a ciclovia is that access would be allowed [for local residents]—it wouldn't be like a complete closure," VACC president Arno Schortinghuis told council. "I would think that residents living along that street”¦would welcome this because the streets would be much quieter. I would much rather live on a street where bicycles are going by, and joggers, than cars or trucks."

This drew an ironic laugh from Nicola Street strata-council president Linda Johnston, who said she was opposed to the ciclovia.

"The only way we can get into our parkade is directly from Beach Avenue," Johnston told council. "It's also where wheelchair access is for our building."

She added that if she and her neighbours couldn't get into their parkade on Sundays during July and August, it would be a "real hardship".

In a later phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Johnston—also president of the Canadian Club of Vancouver—said she has lived in the West End since 1983. She said there used to be three events in a summer, whereas now there are eight to 12. She also said she has counted 18 apartment buildings along Beach Avenue where access to the parkade is from the street rather than the lane.

Brent Granby, president of the West End Residents Association and a supporter of the concept, told council the ciclovia "allows you to think about public space in a different way".

"I think having this imagination about public space creates a dialogue of culture," Granby said. "It's a dialogue that reflects the ethical foundation of the city."

Also in the council chamber, proponent Rand Chatterjee described a ciclovia as "a partial lane closure".

"They are nothing like running a road race down the street," Chatterjee said. "If we were able to get, as San Francisco does, about 15,000 people using this street for a four-hour period on a Sunday morning, that would be a significant crowd."

Both Kitsilano and the West End have the highest percentage of nonmotorized traffic relative to total traffic volume, Chatterjee added. "Most ciclovias are just people walking: strolling along and taking advantage of that freedom from looking both ways when you step off the curb."

Speaking on behalf of his clients Peter and Amy Zackery, who own a building located at Nicola Street and Beach Avenue, lawyer Salim Hirji said the VACC's proposed ciclovia was not structured in a way "that would allow residents to enter and exit their homes".

"It's not just an English Bay issue," Hirji told council. "The ciclovia proposal goes over the Burrard Bridge. There are also a number of [affected] residents on Cornwall and Point Grey Road. These are very, very dense residential neighbourhoods, which makes this proposal quite different from the other summer-spaces proposals, which are very localized and often on the commercial streets."

Meggs's ciclovia amendment promises to conduct "consultations with affected organizations and individuals" and seek budgetary approval from the city manager before a ciclovia livens up the streets of Vancouver.

More folks are cycling and walking to work

> Cycling mode share to work in Vancouver in 2006 (1996): 3.7 percent(3.3 percent)

> Walking mode share to work in Vancouver in 2006 (1996): 12.2 percent (10.7 percent)

> Cycling mode share to work in West Point Grey in 2006: 11.9 percent

> Cycling or walking mode share to work in downtown and West End in 2006 (1996): 41.4 percent (40.7 percent)

> Cycling or walking mode share to work in Victoria in 2006: 33 percent

> Cycling mode share to work in Greater Victoria in 2006 (1996): 5.6 percent (4.9 percent)

> Walking mode share to work in Greater Victoria in 2006 (1996): 10.4 percent (9.8 percent)

> Cycling mode share to work in B.C. in 2006 (1996): 2 percent (1.9 percent)

Source: The City of Vancouver's "2008/2009 Cycling Statistics Update", presented to the transportation and traffic committee on February 17, 2009