Penticton bike lane heading for Skaha Lake after council mixup

Photo: City of Penticton

The lake-to-lake bike lane looks likely to be finished after all.

A final leg of Penticton's contentious bike path has made it into the municipality's 2023 draft budget, following a freshman councillor announcing he had voted incorrectly.

Coun. Ryan Graham explained Thursday that he misunderstood a motion made on Tuesday that would have seen the bike lane stopped in its tracks, at least during the 2023 budget.

Graham's vote tipped the scales in a way he did not intend, removing the final leg of the lake-to-lake bike lane from the budget.

He backtracked late Wednesday, saying he always intended to vote to complete the bike lane, but was confused by phrasing.

"I thought it was another [$1.5 million] dedicated for upcoming new bike lanes, which I'm obviously not for. I've always stayed the course that I want to complete the [existing] bike lane," Graham said.

"So it was honestly a simple mistake. I've always stayed the course with my opinions on the bike lane."

Graham sent an email to fellow council members an hour and a half after the meeting Tuesday, then brought the matter up publicly at the end of Wednesday's meeting.

Many on council voiced their understanding of the mistake. Couns. Isaac Gilbert and Amelia Boultbee, who are on opposite sides of the vote, agreed that as newly-elected members of council, they would like some understanding and leeway should they make a mistake of their own.

They both also expressed a wish that the community will find some peace on this matter.

"Once it's finished, we need to turn our minds to bigger problems here in the community and Councillor Gilbert has very accurately stated that this has turned into a culture war, which is very unfortunate and I think although I have my own views of the bike lane," Boultbee said.

"I do not participate in culture wars, and I hope that we can all accept the results of this vote and move on."

Council voted 4-3 to keep the final leg of the bike lane, from Galt Avenue to Skaha Lake Road, in the 2023 budget at a baked-in cost of $1.5 million.

Couns. Miller, Boultbee and Konanz stuck to their defeated votes asking for it to be removed from the 2023 budget.

City staff had previously noted that a significant portion of that cost is likely to be recovered through grants.

Final approval of the 2023 budget will take place in April.