District of Kent officials said that while district’s new active transportation network plan (ATNP) was thorough and valuable from a planning perspective, it highlighted some significant issues that the province would need to address.
The plan came before council during Monday evening’s meeting, the culmination of several months of work. District staff started working on the ATNP in 2022 with council approving the community engagement plan for the project in November of that year. After the first round of community feedback, early drafts of the plan were updated last January.
Another phase of community engagement took place last spring, at which point the ATNP was re-drafted with additional proofs and edits made from October to December. That draft was submitted to the federal government to meet grant criteria, and the latest draft was up for council’s review and consideration on Monday.
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Mayor Sylvia Pranger pointed out, for example, that the plan called for warning lights at the crosswalk at Mackay Crescent and Highway 9 as it was named among the most dangerous intersections for pedestrian/cyclist-motor vehicle collisions.
“These are issues we have even presented to the province and made money available to have safety lights put up,” Pranger told council. “It has been turned down, yet in this report, again, it shows the number of collisions and near misses at those major intersections. When are we going to get serious about the safety of some of these intersections and call to task (the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure) for their contributions toward an active transportation network, which the province mandates us to have? Again, they want us to have it, but they don’t facilitate us implementing it, and I think we should call them to task.”
Coun. Stan Watchorn pointed out that the ATNP is crucial for planning in the community. He highlighted lower-cost improvements such as sidewalk work and walking paths.
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In other council business:
- Council endorsed the district staff’s application for the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) Community Emergency Preparedness Fund Emergency Operations Centre grant for up to $30,000. The money would go toward updating the file storage from physical paper files to digital file storage, which would significantly reduce paper waste in the future. The money would also go toward updating communications equipment.
- Council approved lighting municipal hall in blue on May 12 in support of Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, based on a request from the Fibromyalgia Association of Canada.
The next regular District of Kent Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at Municipal Hall (7170 Cheam Avenue). Online attendance is also available via Microsoft Teams; those interested can register through kentbc.ca.