The west sidewalk is limestone, narrow, and presents obstacles. As a result, pedestrians often prefer to walk on the road even at night under poor street lighting conditions.
The east sidewalk has been grown over and suffers many encroachments.
At the 2003 AGM, the sidewalk committee solicited input from attendees on their use of sidewalks and their preference whether to keep limestone or push District to install a concrete surface. A concrete sidewalk would likely require a tax levy to residents. Some felt this would be acceptable, and others raised concerns about a previous 10 year levy that did not result in the promised sidewalks. The Sidewalk Committee will pursue the history on that. It was suggested that the SVCA request that the District of North Van. take action to allocate the full sidewalk spacing (5 or 6 feet width) along the west-side only, including trimming of over-hanging vegetation and removal of encroachments on the sidewalk easements, so that repairs and/or placement of the limestone surfacing can be made and maintained by the District. There was complete support for this proposal in the room, giving the SVCA a clear mandate to start with. Once this is accomplished, the community would be in a better position to lobby for the phasing in of concrete surfacing in the future, if supported by the residents.
1) Safety.
2) Road Resurfacing. There is a plan to resurface Riverside Drive after the water mains that run beneath it are replaced. It may be cost effective to replace the sidewalk concurrently.
November 17, 2003. The Districts' response to improvement requests. DNV response Nov 2003.pdf