Editor's note: This is a copy of a letter to Neil McKinnon and Kevin Thomson, organizers of the GranFondo Whistler. It was copied to The Chief for publication.
This is the second year I have written to express my disappointment with the organizers of the GranFondo bike ride and its impact on traffic in the Squamish community. There has been a total lack of communication with the residents of Squamish regarding the three-hour road closure for the GranFondo that will impact Squamish residents living east of the Sea to Sky Highway on Sept. 10. Not even the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay created or required a three-hour road closure in our community. An 8 to 11 a.m. closure on a summer Saturday to allow bicyclists to ride the highway while stopping for wine, cheese, and other refreshments over the course of several hours is excessive and unnecessary. As an active and athletic community member, I support the GranFondo bike ride but feel there needs to be a much more reasonable and rational approach to dealing with the traffic closures. I own and operate a small business in North Vancouver and commute Tuesdays to Saturdays. The store opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and no, I do not want to leave my home before 8 a.m. (as suggested by the GranFondo organizers) to get to work to allow people who are not competing in the Giro portion of the ride to take their time riding the Sea to Sky Highway. I resent the inconvenience to the majority of Squamish residents for a few thousand riders whose goal is to just ride the Sea to Sky Highway, not compete for their country or raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a worthy cause. Last year's GranFondo turned into a total debacle in Squamish - I spent one hour sitting in my vehicle at Mamquam Road and Highway 99 while trying to get to work. I witnessed other drivers trying to get to work, to their kids' soccer games or just to start their weekend swear, yell, honk their horns and race their vehicles through the intersection against the instruction of the GranFondo volunteers holding up stop signs - it was out of control and dangerous. I was an hour late to open my store, which cost money and customers. If you care about the community of Squamish and want the GranFondo event to be welcomed by all residents, not just road cyclists, I urge you to consider other traffic control options such as:
Closing the highway for only an hour to allow the elite riders (Giro participants) to ride through between 8 and 9 a.m.
Stop and start traffic every five to 10 minutes after the one-hour closure to allow a group of riders and north-south drivers to ride and drive through the intersection and then a group of drivers from the east side of Highway 99 turn left or right onto Highway 99 for the next two hours or more if needed.
It is not too late to change the traffic closure plan and "meet in the middle" - not only will this benefit those riding in the race and keep them safe, it will allow Squamish residents to go about their daily business and have much less impact on those businesses located on the east side of Highway 99 and elsewhere. I read with interest Nicole Trigg's editorial in The Chief this past week. Nicole is riding in the GranFondo but feels the three-hour closure is excessive and increases the negative feelings and tensions between drivers and cyclists. I have pasted the link to this column as I feel her opinion is the kind of rational and realistic thinking that the organizers of the GranFondo are lacking. If this is how participants of the race feel, why is it necessary to close the east/west crossings for three hours? What political clout does the GranFondo have that the Ministry of Transportation would allow this kind of closure against the advice of the RCMP and others?
Tina Beer HamlinGaribaldi Highlands
