SpongeG
02-18-2007, 11:38 PM
that HOV lane really does help get traffic movign through though and the heights really has done a good job adding in parking on the side streets and streets parallel...
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Scrap Hastings HOV lanes: merchants
Calling it a “failed experiment,” Burnaby’s Heights Merchants Association is asking city hall to scrap the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on Hastings Street.
Merchants say their businesses are suffering because people are not wanting to shop the Heights during the afternoon rush hour.
Wednesday, they made their pitch to city council’s transportation committee. And now city staff are looking at what might be done to mitigate the effect the HOV lanes on Hastings.
“Having an HOV lane running through our neighbourhood is not sustainable, either economically or in terms of maintaining a community atmosphere,” said Isabel Kolic, executive director of the merchants’ association.
“The Heights Merchants’ Association is not against the idea of HOV lanes, it’s just that we believe they belong on a freeway, not through a neighbourhood.”
HOV lanes were added to Hastings Street in September 1996 as part of the Hastings/Barnet People Moving Project that also saw Barnet Road widened from two lanes to four from Inlet Drive to Clarke Street in Port Moody.
Use of the westbound HOV lanes is restricted to vehicles with two or more people between 6 and 8:30 a.m., while similar restrictions apply to the eastbound HOV lanes between 3:30 and 6 p.m. During other times, the lanes are used for parking.
The morning commute isn’t a problem for Heights merchants because the rush is over before most businesses open. But the afternoon rush is another story.
Since 1994, the merchants association has been working to create a sense of community in the Heights. And part of that has been done by establishing a neighbourhood shopping district in which people are comfortable parking their car and walking three or four blocks to do their shopping.
“But when you’ve got traffic going right along side you, it’s not conducive to that kind of an atmosphere,” said Jack Kuyer, who owns Valley Bakery.
“Walking down the street isn’t much fun when you’ve got a bus splashing water all over the sidewalk and when its whipping by at 50 kilometres an hour, it’s pushing a lot of wind. And it’s noisy and not very pleasant.”
Which is why merchants believe they see a drop in the number of customers during the afternoon rush.
“If you look at Hastings, between three and six, there’s hardly anybody on the street,” Kuyer said. “You’ve taken the street away from pedestrians and told them to drive down to some other part of Burnaby [to shop in comfort], so you’re increasing traffic rather than reducing.
“I think there’s a lot of businesses suffering – not all of them, but a lot. If you go down Hastings today, there’s a lot more empty stores than there were five years ago.”
Coun. Nick Volkow, who chairs the transportation committee, agrees with the merchants suggestion it may be time to revisit the Hasting Street Plan, but is not sure yet whether getting rid of the HOV lanes is the right way to go.
One possibility that might be worth looking at, Volkow said, is increasing the number of people needed to be in a vehicle using an HOV lane. The HOV lanes in front of the B.C. Institute of Technology require a least six people per vehicle.
“If you upped the HOV lane to six plus, it would really encourage car pooling and various other things,” Volkow said.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the HOV lanes do move traffic along quickly. “Sometimes too quickly and that makes it far less livable on the street.”
And given Hastings is a major bus route connecting the Tri-Cities with Downtown Vancouver, it’s not really possible to just scrap the HOV lanes.
“If we put transit back into traffic and slow all of the traffic, it slows everybody down and that costs everybody money. It also costs transit commuters a lot of time, so we’ve got to consider that issue too.”
The transportation committee referred the issue to city hall staff for a report detailing possible remedies.
http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals/uploads/burnaby/.DIR288/070215-Hastings.jpg
Jack Kuyer, the owner of Valley Bakery, and other members of the Heights Merchants Associaton, say they want the HOV lanes along Hastings St. removed, making curbside parking available all through the day.
http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=41&cat=23&id=835427&more=
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Scrap Hastings HOV lanes: merchants
Calling it a “failed experiment,” Burnaby’s Heights Merchants Association is asking city hall to scrap the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on Hastings Street.
Merchants say their businesses are suffering because people are not wanting to shop the Heights during the afternoon rush hour.
Wednesday, they made their pitch to city council’s transportation committee. And now city staff are looking at what might be done to mitigate the effect the HOV lanes on Hastings.
“Having an HOV lane running through our neighbourhood is not sustainable, either economically or in terms of maintaining a community atmosphere,” said Isabel Kolic, executive director of the merchants’ association.
“The Heights Merchants’ Association is not against the idea of HOV lanes, it’s just that we believe they belong on a freeway, not through a neighbourhood.”
HOV lanes were added to Hastings Street in September 1996 as part of the Hastings/Barnet People Moving Project that also saw Barnet Road widened from two lanes to four from Inlet Drive to Clarke Street in Port Moody.
Use of the westbound HOV lanes is restricted to vehicles with two or more people between 6 and 8:30 a.m., while similar restrictions apply to the eastbound HOV lanes between 3:30 and 6 p.m. During other times, the lanes are used for parking.
The morning commute isn’t a problem for Heights merchants because the rush is over before most businesses open. But the afternoon rush is another story.
Since 1994, the merchants association has been working to create a sense of community in the Heights. And part of that has been done by establishing a neighbourhood shopping district in which people are comfortable parking their car and walking three or four blocks to do their shopping.
“But when you’ve got traffic going right along side you, it’s not conducive to that kind of an atmosphere,” said Jack Kuyer, who owns Valley Bakery.
“Walking down the street isn’t much fun when you’ve got a bus splashing water all over the sidewalk and when its whipping by at 50 kilometres an hour, it’s pushing a lot of wind. And it’s noisy and not very pleasant.”
Which is why merchants believe they see a drop in the number of customers during the afternoon rush.
“If you look at Hastings, between three and six, there’s hardly anybody on the street,” Kuyer said. “You’ve taken the street away from pedestrians and told them to drive down to some other part of Burnaby [to shop in comfort], so you’re increasing traffic rather than reducing.
“I think there’s a lot of businesses suffering – not all of them, but a lot. If you go down Hastings today, there’s a lot more empty stores than there were five years ago.”
Coun. Nick Volkow, who chairs the transportation committee, agrees with the merchants suggestion it may be time to revisit the Hasting Street Plan, but is not sure yet whether getting rid of the HOV lanes is the right way to go.
One possibility that might be worth looking at, Volkow said, is increasing the number of people needed to be in a vehicle using an HOV lane. The HOV lanes in front of the B.C. Institute of Technology require a least six people per vehicle.
“If you upped the HOV lane to six plus, it would really encourage car pooling and various other things,” Volkow said.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the HOV lanes do move traffic along quickly. “Sometimes too quickly and that makes it far less livable on the street.”
And given Hastings is a major bus route connecting the Tri-Cities with Downtown Vancouver, it’s not really possible to just scrap the HOV lanes.
“If we put transit back into traffic and slow all of the traffic, it slows everybody down and that costs everybody money. It also costs transit commuters a lot of time, so we’ve got to consider that issue too.”
The transportation committee referred the issue to city hall staff for a report detailing possible remedies.
http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals/uploads/burnaby/.DIR288/070215-Hastings.jpg
Jack Kuyer, the owner of Valley Bakery, and other members of the Heights Merchants Associaton, say they want the HOV lanes along Hastings St. removed, making curbside parking available all through the day.
http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=41&cat=23&id=835427&more=
