First off, I would like to thank the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) for the snow-clearing efforts this year on the Valley Trail. It appears that there was a more concerted effort to clear the Valley Trail, making it easier for non-automobile drivers to travel safely. Thank you.
All winter, we get easier cruising, with yellow gates opened and bollards removed. The most immediate dangers are eliminated so that snowplows can clear the trails, so awesome!
Unfortunately, with spring now upon us, I expect the RMOW to perform its annual ritual of, in my opinion, making cycling more dangerous. Dozens of bollards will be placed in the middle of the trail, yellow gates will be closed—look at all the scratched yellow paint to see how much those gates get in the way.
In a bizarre contortion of logic, in order to protect Valley Trail users from cars, the RMOW makes it more dangerous for cyclists. That’s right, to protect cyclists from cars, we make it more dangerous for cyclists. Unless I’ve missed something, drivers have not been asked to make a single sacrifice to make active transportation safer.
I know of two injuries last summer from bikers hitting bollards. BC Cycling Coalition research shows that “Half of all urban biking injuries involve collisions with fixed objects, uneven surfaces, rail tracks, other non-motorized users and other falls.” So, to make it safer, it is best to eliminate those fixed objects, like we do for the winter months.
I asked municipal staff if we are preventing a problem that doesn’t exist: how many cars have driven down the Valley Trail (a few in many years) and how many accidents does this cause (no record of any)? It’s just what we’ve always done.
There are heaps of research revealing that painted bike icons on the roads makes biking more dangerous, like we’ve been painting annually throughout our village roads, but the RMOW will likely get their stencils out again this spring.
We could try signage, we could try concrete barriers, we could try building gates for cars (a la Rainbow Park) to slow down and drive through. There are so many creative solutions.
But this year, I expect we will make it more dangerous, because that’s the ritual we’ve always performed.
