Allison Vail

The Chronicle

Ladysmith is updating its bike plan to find out what it will take to get people cycling.

“What we’re trying to do is speak go people who would like to bike,” said Felicity Adams, the manager of development services for the town. She said the new plan will focus on what people need to change their behavior, whether it’s signs, shower facilities or certain types of paths.

The town already has a bike plan, which was developed in 2000.

“Not too much has happened since that time,” Adams said, noting Dogwood and Fourth Avenue have been marked as bike routes, and a route has been built along Chemainus Road.

A $21,000 grant from Built Environment and Active Transportation is paying for the consultants updating the plan.

Adams said what consultants have told her is that one third of the population of a town would bike, but they need an extra something, like better signs or showers, do get them to do it.

There is also a group of people who will bike no matter what, and a group of people who won’t bike at all.

She said the group the town wants to motivate is that third that would bike if they had that extra thing.

Adams said the new plan will prioritize routes based on feedback from the public.

There will be a public meeting about the update in November, date and time to be announced. There will also be web based consultation through the town’s website, www.ladysmith.ca.

Adams said the consultants have already ridden on some of the town’s bike routes and spoken to cyclists.

“We’re getting direct input from cyclists themselves,” Adams said. “We will be doing bike counts as part of the project.”

The town does not know how many people cycle as of yet, but it is also tracking bike usage on the trolley, which has a bike rack, right now.

“We expect the number is fairly small,” Adams said, about those who cycle. “So any increase in that is great.”

The study will be completed by the end of December.