'Golden Mile' residents in Kits angry road about to become even more bike friendly

It's been called the Golden Mile, the Road for the Rich, and even Vancouver's Most Exclusive Driveway.

But now some residents along theeight-block stretch of Kitsilano's Point Grey Road who once supported radical traffic calming measures are angry the city intends to go ahead with Phase 2 of the project.

"We have now gone from an unsafe car freeway to an unsafe bike speedway," RonChunicktold Vancouver city council.

Nevertheless,council approved $6.4 million for Phase 2ofthe Seaside Greenway Wednesday night, meaning even more changes are coming to the route, includinga three-metre-widesidewalk andnarrower roadway.

Phase 1of the Seaside Greenway project launched amid controversy Jan. 2014,with a pricetag of $6 million.Point Grey Road betweenAlma Street and Macdonald Street was closed permanently to all but local traffic, removing10,000 cars per day fromthestreetin order to make itsafer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Sure enough, the vehicle-snarled road soon turned to cyclist Shangri-La, but now it appears the project is falling victim to its own success.

Road rage and rock throwing

Point Grey Road resident Mary Lavinsupported the initialprojectbut says the route has descended into "chaos", witha growing number ofconflicts between drivers and cyclists many ofwhomignore the rules of the road,sometimes riding five or six abreast blocking the entire street.

"Road rage is a minute-by-minute norm with cyclists," she said. "Cyclist andlocaldrivers givingeach otherthe finger, honking, screechingto sudden stops,yellingexpletives ... throwing rocks," she said.

"And cars arestriking or driving over insufficiently or utterly unmarked concrete medians meant to block them."

Lavinand Chunickbothbelieve Phase 2construction will make the problems even worse.

"There is a potential huge safety risk here and they're going ahead with itanyway," said Lavin.

Not the seawall

"Point Grey Road is a local residential street with cars, not an inland seawall or a park, said Chunick.

"Proposed designs will accelerate and complicate ongoing safety concerns."

Phase 2 construction of the Seaside Greenway is set to begin in the fall.

NPA city councillors George Affleck, Elizabeth Ball and Melissa De Genova all voted against the project.