Submitted to The Record
Close to 100 people came out to hear the exciting program of speakers at the Comox Valley Cycling Coalition AGM on Monday evening at the Filberg Centre.
Guest speaker, Bill McKay, chair of the Island Corridor Foundation and Mayor of Nanaimo gave a dynamic presentation about the history and current status of the railway link between Courtenay and Victoria and the associated ‘trail by rail’.
He linked this with a vision for increased use of alternative transportation in Nanaimo and displayed the city’s z-map showing both cycling routes and transit routes on a pocket sized map.
Local speakers representing all four Comox Valley jurisdictions detailed plans and goals for improved cycling infrastructure and a cycling network providing connectivity throughout the valley. Barbara Price (Town of Comox councillor), David Frisch (City of Courtenay councillor), Rob Crisfield (operations manager for the Village of Cumberland) and Karin Albert (CV Regional District parks planner) illustrated their presentations with maps and pictures and described the positive responses to surveys they have received from the public.
The Cycling Coalition launched the online, interactive cycling map which is now hosted on the Coalition website CycleCV.com
This map was financed by the Cycling Task Force and the Cycling Coalition with hundreds of volunteer hours donated by the Cycling Coalition. Once funding has been secured the map will be produced in a z-map format for easy portability. The map will be in demand by tourists, new residents and people who would like to find good routes to explore more of the valley by bicycle.
The new board of the Cycling Coalition for 2016-17 was elected and will continue to move forward focusing on advocacy, education and special events including secure bike parking. Reports, meeting minutes, upcoming events and articles of interest can be seen on the website CycleCV.com along with information about membership.