Adam Pomeroy and Rob Gretchen are excited to see the City of Castlegar’s plans for new bike lanes — not just as cyclists and the owners of Cycology Bikes, but as entrepreneurs who have chosen to relocate to Castlegar because of all that the city has to offer.
The bike lanes are part of the Columbia Avenue Redevelopment Project and will be on each side of the road.
“Every modern urban centre needs to have bicycle infrastructure as part of its modernization plans,” said Gretchen.
Pomeroy looks forward to a day when it will be safe for kids to ride their bikes to school down Columbia Avenue.
“The common denominator whether it is just awareness or education on both sides — the drivers and the cyclists — it’s not [currently] real safe,” he said. “Having the bike lane is beautiful because it is showing that the city is moving forward with making it more bike friendly.”
Pomeroy also likes the idea of the divided lane created with a curb over using just a painted line. He believes it will increase awareness by both drivers and cyclists and therefore increase safety.
He also hopes the redevelopment will encourage more foot traffic along Columbia Avenue, which will be good for businesses.
“Just creating the strip, having some greenery and just beautifying it — I think we will actually see an increase in activity,” Pomeroy said.
“We are in strong support of this city moving forward — the city is taking action to move in the right direction,” he added.
“Conceptually its the right plan,” said Gretchen. “The implementation details are up for interpretation — always will be — but that’s just dotting your Is and crossing your Ts … let’s get the concept moving.”
“With all of the infrastructure upgrades [included in the project] it’s a no-brainer, it makes perfect sense. Do it all in one shot — it is going to cost less at the end of the day to the taxpayer,” added Pomeroy.
Pomeroy moved to Castlegar from Fort Saint John and Gretchen has returned to his roots after spending 20 years away.
“We’ve been here nine years,” said Pomeroy. “We’ve seen so much positive impact and change for the good.”
He and his wife chose Castlegar over the other cities in the region. He’s always happy with his choice when he hears visitors from other cities praise things like Sculpturewalk and Millennium Park.
“There’s lots of good stuff going on in Castlegar,” said Gretchen.