Wow, 500 signatures! It’s hard to know where to start. A good place to start would be thank you, everyone. To say that the past few days have been unexpected is a massive understatement.

To amass 500 signatures in less than a week came as quite a shock for me. As a student up at UNBC and since the semester was over, I figured that this petition would be a fun side project to work on over the summer. So, when I learned there were articles in the Prince George Citizen and on CKPG Today about the petition it felt incredibly surreal. This petition was inspired by a class project that I did for one of my classes that was a real passion project for me, so to hear that so many others share the same opinion about cycling and cycling safety in Prince George felt incredibly validating. Thank you, Prince George, for spreading the word!

I have had several interviews over the past few days with Brendan Powliw of Vista Radio and Carolina de Ryk of CBC Radio’s Daybreak North (clip starts at 1:26:20), among others. Suddenly becoming a voice for the many cyclists or soon-to-be cyclists in Prince George was a little bit of a shock, but I have reached out (and have been reached by) many strong supporters of the protected bike lane cause. The supporters in these businesses and organizations are backing this petition, which has made me feel well supported to push forward. A big thanks to those in PGAIR, PGCC, Koops Bike Shop and Cycle Logic.

I have edited the petition (particularly the first paragraph) for clarity on how separating the bike lane with an obstacle is what this petition is after. I have heard a few comments about how this petition is about lane markers and the painted line wearing out, which while this is an issue, the petition is more about fundamental change in the design of the bike lane itself. The bike lane should be separated from motor traffic as much as possible, full stop.

I am going to reach out to get a date for when I can attend a City Council meeting, so stay tuned on that. I would like to thank every single one of you once again, I wouldn’t be doing this without your support. Be sure to tell your friends! The short link is change.org/SafeBikingPG so you can tell your friends and family.

I am looking forward to making biking in Prince George a more viable form of transportation.

Thanks,
Kyle R.
Organizer
Safe Biking for Prince George