Castlegar city council will look at belatedly becoming part of a pilot program for electric scooters.
The move comes following a presentation last week to council by longtime resident and regular cyclist Marilyn Johnstone, who called for safety improvements to Columbia Avenue.
Johnstone said she has always used a bicycle for transportation and now uses an e-bike to climb Sherbiko Hill. She told council she has studied the city’s active transportation plan, which promotes more bicycles and fewer cars.
“These are lofty goals I feel are certainly worth aiming for,” she said.
Johnstone said she appreciated signs posted throughout the community encouraging drivers to share the road, but she finds sections of Columbia Avenue unsafe for cyclists. She asked that council create an active transportation committee that includes residents who get around the city without cars. That committee would be taksed with implementing the report’s recommendations and turning Columbia into a “safe transportation hub,” she said.
Johnstone explained that she was referring to the whole length of Columbia and suggested parking along that stretch could be eliminated, with the development of off-street parking. She also suggested a “properly separated” bike lane be built in phases and that vehicle lanes be narrowed beginning at the highway overpass to slow traffic.
“In my opinion, the most unsafe areas along Columbia Avenue include 22nd Street to the 17th Street railroad crossing, Sherbiko Hill, any area where vehicles are parking, and the bridge at 2nd Street,” she said.
Johnstone said there is little use implementing the active transportation plan unless it’s complemented with education. She suggested maps showing the safest bike routes and in-school programs.
She also said local RCMP have been overzealous in ticketing users of electric scooters, which are only allowed on the road in about 30 communities in BC that have signed up for a pilot program, including Cranbrook. Nelson is considering joining as well.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Monty Taylor told council that if someone has received a ticket for using an e-scooter, “usually there’s something that exacerbated that. Prior additional offenses and/or they’ve been warned two or three times.”
Johnstone asked council to advocate to the Ministry of Transportation to “hasten the clarification and implementation of rules for the operation of electric scooters.”
Councillor Cherryl MacLeod, who is also an avid cyclist, said she appreciated the safety concerns raised about Columbia Avenue, and felt that some e-scooter and e-bike users need to be reminded to slow down.
“It’s not enjoyable riding [a bike] on Columbia Avenue, because you’re forever having to wonder what’s happening and who’s coming at you.”
Councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff agreed.
“It seems that people get an e-bike, e-scooter, even an electric wheelchair, and they forget the rules of the road,” she said. “So that’s a huge education piece. But from the city’s point of view, we could do a way better job.”
Engineering manager Ryan Niddery noted that active transportation will be a big part of a transportation master plan slated to be completed next year. Forthcoming work on Columbia Avenue will also address some areas that Johnstone flagged as unsafe, he said.
Mayor Maria McFaddin said adding bike lines is “extremely expensive,” and some sections of Columbia Avenue are actually the Ministry of Transportation’s responsibility. She added it was an oversight that Castlegar didn’t sign up for the provincial e-scooter pilot program, which began in 2024. Based on her suggestion, council asked for a staff report on what it would take to join that program.
Council was also interested in creating an active transportation committee as Johnstone suggested but decided to wait until the transportation master plan is completed. City manager Chris Barlow said that plan could help guide such a committee.
