To: Mayor and Council of the City of Prince George
Caine Dr, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9

We the undersigned, petition Mayor and Council of the City of Prince George as follows:

Many in Prince George are aware there is currently limited parking available to access the multi-use trails at Pidherny
Recreation Site. The recreation site has an average of 500 daily users, including mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners,
dog walkers, snowshoers, and others. The trail network has been developed by dedicated volunteers investing thousands
of hours over the last two decades.
The Pidherny Recreation Site is a multi-tenure, forest recreation area authorized under Section 56 of the Forest and
Range Practices Act. It is managed under a Partnership Agreement between the provincial government (Rec Sites and
Trails BC) and the Prince George Cycling Club. Within the recreation area, there are at least 42 mountain bike-optimized
non-motorized recreation trails as well as several former Forest Service Roads and other unauthorized/unmaintained trails
for both motorized and non-motorized uses. The trail network has been designed to flow towards Pidherny Road.
We are also aware that the City of Prince George intends to propose permitted parking on Gilbert Drive and Pidherny
Road to address concerns of local area residents. Despite a significant reduction in speed on Pidherny Road in 2020, and
the addition of traffic calming measures, the local area residents are still concerned with traffic volumes and safety. It is
unlikely that any solution that involves long-term increased usage of this road for users to access the trails will satisfy
concerns of some residents. We understand that the intent is to develop a parking lot near the intersection of North
Nechako and Meadowbrook Roads. Trail users would then be required to walk or ride along North Nechako Road, which
does not have a sidewalk and only a narrow shoulder, to the Pidherny Recreation Site accessed from the end of Pidherny
Road. There are no trails connecting the proposed parking area and the existing trail network.
This proposal would add an approximately 4.6 km return distance to users of the recreation site and will greatly increase
shoulder traffic on North Nechako Road, which will increase the risk of injury to walkers, cyclists, and pets that are
travelling to use the recreation area. Furthermore, this proposal has the potential to aggravate a larger portion of the
community who no longer have direct access to a recreation area that is an important part of our community.
We are against the proposal to redirect users to another parking location over 2 kilometers away. We are in favour of
expanding the parking within Pidherny Recreation Site and want to see an increase in stakeholder engagement,
specifically local trail users, from the City of Prince George.
We suggest that the City of Prince George develop a Master Plan for the Pidherny Recreation Site to formally assess the
use of the site and to implement a process to appease the local area residents and socially justify a solution that meets
the needs of the trail users. Since the implementation of the speed restrictions, traffic calming measures, and reduced
parking along Pidherny Road, trail users have respected the traffic improvements, and we request that local area
residents respect our access to recreate at Pidherny Recreation Site.