Sidewalk for West Vancouver school scrapped amid neighbours’ opposition

Some parents are pushing back after West Vancouver city council moved to scrap a planned sidewalk at an elementary school.

The sidewalk was proposed for Irwin Park Elementary following a municipal study that identified a gravel shoulder bordering one side of the school as a high priority for a safety upgrade.

Last week, West Vancouver’s mayor and council voted unanimously not to move ahead with the work following complaints from some neighbours who argued it was unnecessary.

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“What happened is when local residents found out about it, they kicked up a stink — first of all, they said, ‘It’s not required, it’s not necessary, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ they said, ‘We don’t want trees removed,'” said Jatinder Sidhu, the West Vancouver District parent advisory council traffic and safety representative.

“One would hope councillors can base policy on evidence, on thoughtful consideration, on analysis of what we need to do, and then implement policy. Unfortunately, a lot of people oppose things like change such as a sidewalk, citing anecdotes.”

The proposed sidewalk came after an extensive West Vancouver pedestrian network study, which highlighted the need for a 1.8-metre-side sidewalk on the 236-metre stretch of gravel.

Installation would have cost the district around $250,000, with another $50,000 coming from TransLink’s walking infrastructure program. The plan would have also included a paved parking area.

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“It didn’t have the support of neighbours and we thought, ‘Well, if we’re going to spend money, let’s spend it where it’s appreciated and perhaps needed a little bit more,'” West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager told Global News.

“The school has sidewalks on three other sides that are utilized. This was not a high traffic zone, at least, members of council felt there are other areas of greater priority.”

The otherwise quiet street does get congested during drop-off and pickup times at the school, with vehicles at times bumper to bumper on the gravel shoulder as kids come and go from the school.

Sidhu says the situation is an accident waiting to happen.

“I think we always need to think about what are the things that we can change in order to make things safer and better,” he said.

“Sometimes those are very small changes, sometimes they require a bit of money like in this case.”

With the project now sidelined, city staff are looking for another project to direct the funding to.