WATCH: North Vancouver is considering installing a one-of-a-kind machine that might convince more people to ride bikes in a city that’s on the side of mountain. John Daly reports.
North Vancouver’s West Keith Road connects Marine Drive with Upper Lonsdale, but with a seven per cent grade it doesn’t see many cyclists.
That could soon change thanks to a bit of Scandinavian technology.
“This is potentially a location for a bicycle lift or a mechanism that helps people up steeper hills with bicycles,” said City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
“I was first alerted to this idea about five years ago. A fellow sent me a YouTube video about it, and I decided ‘hey – I have to have a look at that!'”
Mussatto travelled to Trondheim, Norway on his own dime to test the city’s “cyclo-cable,” a 130-metre long device that helps cyclists move uphill. To use the lift, cyclists keep their left foot on their bike pedal and place their right on a footplate attached to a metal track that pushes them up a hill.
The first version of the device was built 21 years at a cost of $300,000, and there have been no reported accidents.
“This would be one opportunity, hooking up the Lower Lonsdale area with central Lonsdale,” said Mussatto.
“This might be an opportunity for us to see people to get more active on their bikes, and to say we can get rid of one of the obstacles, which is a hill.”
Hardcore cyclists may not want to use it, but it could appeal to recreational and commuter cyclists.
Mussatto is enthusiastic about the idea, but says the city needs to do its due diligence.
“We would need to do a feasibility study to make sure that it’s the right place, and the right dollars spent. So I think that would be good to come to council.”
-With files from John Daly
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