To the editor:
Re: “Manager rejects NPA’s meeting request on bike path,” Nov. 1.
With regard to the Hadden Park/KIts Beach Park cement bike path, the question is why is another bike path needed? There are already two existing paths for bikes, one which goes along the edge of the beach, shared with pedestrians — a common practice in bicycle friendly places —and second, Arbutus Street, used, but perhaps underutilized. The section of Arbutus bordering Kits Beach Park is generally quiet, so it seems like a perfect solution to have cyclists use the existing street, eliminating the need to cover more earth with cement. It is our natural land that must be preserved.
I have lived just around the corner from Kits Beach Park for 15 years and have seen and experienced as a cyclist that there is plenty of room for cyclists in this neighborhood. I attended the community meeting Oct. 20 outside the Boathouse Restaurant at Kits Beach where a local mom who comes here often with her children pointed out that as more people live without their own gardens, more public grassy areas will be needed.
This is not about Kits residents not wanting to share the parks with cyclists — we already do. To me, this is about cyclists using the existing paths cooperatively, as we do elsewhere, and following safety rules, as we do elsewhere. And it is about not having asphalt become the new green.
Bhavana Lymworth,
Vancouver
