That was the question last night at the Community Services Standing Committee meeting.
This item was the “barn burner” issue of the night as the committee discussed the upcoming Canadian Cycling Road Championship on June 25th, 2011. The staff report along with the map of the route can be found here. Area residents, including the owners of Springridge Farms had concerns of safety issues and lost revenue as the 25th of June is THE biggest day for the popular farm in town.
After lengthy discussions with the parties involved and the race organizers they will head back to table to find a solution that will meet everyones needs. Councillor Huffman suggested that the starting times of each of the two races be spread further apart and begin earlier/later in order to accomodate Springridge Farms hours of operations and hopefully also address concerns raised for safety of the cyclists.
Councillor Lunau took some pictures of Bell School Line which showed some pretty heavy erosion of the road, with some patches here and there which causes a lot of concern seeing how these riders will be going anywhere from 80KM/HR to 90KM/HR (speed limit is 60…should we give them tickets?) The organizers feel that given the experience level of the cyclists and the semi professional status, they will be able to handle it. Time will have to see.
Committee deferred the report until we get an update which will hopefully come this week, and we can get this matter resolved to everyones satisfaction. This is the biggest sales day for the Springridge Farms and it would be a shame to see their sales drop (as well as the frustration of their customers not being able to get in) and of couse, the safety of the cyclists involved.