Kelowna Sees Public Buy-in for Biking, and is Planning Accordingly
You may know Kelowna for its sprawling vineyards, prized stone fruits, and of course, as home to the infamous Ogopogo.
You may not know, however, that it was known as ‘Grizzly Bear’ in the nsyilxcən language of the Syilx/Okanagan people. You may have missed the fact that Kelowna once had a thriving tobacco industry. Or maybe you forgot that it was home of the only father-son premier pair in British Columbia’s history (the Bennetts).
In recent years, this idyllic university town has also become known for something else — slowly but surely, Kelowna is aiming to become one of B.C’s most bike-friendly cities.
While investments in cycling infrastructure are obviously critical to reaching this goal, so is tapping into community sentiment; in a recent poll, 70% of Kelowna residents supported the building of a cycling grid in their community.
As a result, the city is planning for and promoting active transportation; in their most recent official community plan, the City of Kelowna pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 33% by 2030, and providing transportation options for residents that go beyond the motor vehicle is key.
“Compared to other towns the size of Kelowna, the buy-in for cycling infrastructure from the public is much higher,” explains Matt Worona, mobility specialist with the City’s Transportation Department. (The city had a population of 127,380 as of the 2016 Census.)
Worona explains that Kelowna’s active transportation network now includes a series of neighbourhood bikeways, protected lanes, and end of trip facilities such as bike lockers and racks. Plus, one more crucial piece of the network helps inform the city’s transportation decision-making...
“We have counters around town that [count bikes] 24/7. From these, we have five years of data that show how cyclists behave month to month, year to year. And the increase we’ve seen is really substantial.”
According to Worona, in each of the past five years Kelowna has seen an annual increase in ridership of almost ten percent. And in this year of COVID-19, by August 2020 ridership had doubled compared to the same period in 2019.
While it’s well-documented that adding safe and efficient cycling infrastructure increases ridership, getting the community on-side with new facilities is often where many city councils, planners and engineering departments fall short.
Not so in Kelowna.
Kelowna’s new protected bike lanes on Ethel Street, part of the long-term plan for the Ethel Street active transportation corridor. Photo: City of Kelowna.
Almost every year, the city has applied for, and often received, grant funding from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure via the Active Transportation Infrastructure Grant Program, and 2020 was no exception. This year, Kelowna was awarded $500,000 to invest in new protected bike lanes on Ethel Street, as part of the planned Ethel Active Transportation Corridor.
“I think it's absolutely beautiful, wonderful, well-planned, and a true asset together with the other many kilometres of bike paths the City has built” says Kelowna resident Suzanne Hintringer, whose home is just 100 metres away from Ethel Street and the future corridor.
A BC resident for the past 30 years, Suzanne and her husband Michael have spent time in Europe, where cycling as a mode of transportation is considered as normal as breathing. They now spend their time running a successful photography business, exploring the outdoors, and enjoying the cafe culture that has bloomed over the past several years. Suzanne is excited about the transformation she is seeing in her community.
“It seems to me the City of Kelowna has really come a long way with bike paths and corridors,” says Suzanne. “I know it's a priority to build more in the future. I hope they continue to do so.”
As is the case in many progressive, bike-friendly communities across Europe and in some Canadian cities, new and existing bike lanes along Ethel will be cleared of snow in the winter, and maintained seasonally to ensure year-round use. More cyclist-friendly signal phases will be installed over the next year, allowing commuting cyclists to get ahead of motorized traffic. And while protected intersections are not planned for this corridor, other traffic calming measures such as the narrowing of lane widths, painting cycling lanes with bright green paint, and eliminating turning at some intersections are being used.
When asked what it means to him to work for and live in a community that values active transportation, Worona didn’t hesitate: “It's incredibly important!”
“We all wonder how we can pull people out of their cars, and shift travel behaviour in our community. We have a great team here, and with the right level of support from different governments, Kelowna is really moving the needle forward.”