The District of Squamish is considering removing cement barriers installed on Government Road in front of the Eagle Run dike and Watershed Grill restaurant in Brackendale to make room for parking for tour buses.
Coun. Susan Chapelle brought forward the motion requesting staff remove the barriers in order to increase parking capacity. The barriers restrict vehicles from going in and out of the parking lot in multiple directions and make it difficult for large vehicles and buses to maneuver into place and exit.
“The entrance is extremely small, and so any larger vehicle that tries to get in and out of there has great difficulty,” Chapelle said. “If the barrier is needed, maybe open up the space, so people get out and in easier, just make the entrance and exist a little bit larger.”
Brandy Willmot, co-owner of the WaterShed restaurant, agreed that the opening for vehicles is too small, and waiting for vehicles to properly park can pose problems.
“You have to stop on a dime to get in if you’re going north, it’s ridiculous,” she said. “I agree it is probably safer for the bikers, but in terms of pedestrians, it’s still — for the lack of a better word — a total s***-show.”
Willmot spoke to council previously last summer and wrote a letter in 2013 about her concerns regarding safety issues on that lot.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said that while something does need to change at that spot, a quick fix might not be the right move.
“There’s a comprehensive strategy that needs to go in place to deal with that whole Eagle Run section of Government Road,” she said. “I would be really hesitant at this point to remove the cement barriers.”
Heintzman suggested last summer that a master plan was needed for the Eagle Run area.
Gary Buxton, the District’s general manager of community planning and infrastructure, also said he would be reluctant to move the barriers because keeping them there is safer for everyone.
“It’s a lot safer, both for cyclists and for vehicles because they’re not coming out in 16-different directions,” he said.
“That was done very deliberately. There are two ways to get in and out. It’s a lot safer than having people back in and out of that parking lot like they were doing, across the bike path, pedestrians crossing here, there, everywhere.”
**Please note, this story has been modified since it was posted to remove the term "intersection" to describe the crossing, as readers may have found it confusing.
