Image credit: Mel Rothenburger

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Here’s an easy way to pay for the Lansdowne Street pathway

Dec 4, 2023 | 5:55 AM

THE PROPOSED LANSDOWNE STREET multi-use pathway has been stirring up some opposition from those who figure it will be a waste of money.

It’s the case with any project that those who won’t personally make use of it aren’t inclined to spend their tax dollars for the general good. Still, there’s nothing wrong with challenging the need for major infrastructure proposals.

The Lansdowne project is touted by City Hall staff as filling in a missing link in the City’s active transportation vision. Meeting that vision seems to involve dropping pieces of it into place here and there and then trying to hook them all up.

The recently completed Sixth Avenue bike lanes, for example, don’t lead anywhere in particular. The Lansdowne lanes are supposed to connect that route to the end of Second Avenue.

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Lansdowne would have been much easier to work with had the City not dramatically narrowed it years ago to create more parking for the re-imagined Thompson Park Mall, but that’s water under the bridge, so to speak.

If the pedestrian-cycling path gets the green light this week, it will certainly be a better investment than the million-dollar two-block stretch at Halston, on which I’ve yet to see a pedestrian or cyclist.

If money’s the issue, I have an answer that might assuage concerns — scrap that useless plan for a pedestrian-and-cycling overpass across the Summit Connector between College Heights and Thompson Rivers University.

That would pay for the Lansdowne project with money left for other projects as well, since the overpass is expected to cost $10 million. The City’s share is supposed to be only half of that, but Lansdowne is estimated at $2.75 million, so getting rid of the overpass in favour of a fence would easily get the job done all-round.

Active transportation is a worthy cause. It just has to be done in the right places.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.