Port Moody city council denied a request Tuesday from the city's police to stop beach-goers from parking along the popular stretch of Bedwell Bay Road near Sasamat Lake.
According to documents presented at Tuesday's council meeting, Port Moody Police Department complained last summer about people parking on Bedwell Bay Road, citing concerns about pedestrian safety. Parked cars reduce visibility, force pedestrians to walk on the road, cause frequent U-turns as visitors search for parking spaces and erode the ditches beside the road, according to the city's account of the PMPD's concerns.
City engineering staff looked into the complaints and suggested removing a total of 1.6 km of parking - the equivalent of 240 parking spaces - along both sides of Bedwell Bay Road directly to the south and west of the popular Sasamat Lake swimming area effective next month.
But with councillors Mike Clay and Diana Dilworth voting against the PMPD's request and Mayor Joe Trasolini and Coun. Gerry Nuttall in favour - and with three councillors absent - it was defeated in a tie vote. Clay and Dilworth say visitors to the area simply have nowhere else to go.
Parking is already restricted along some areas of Bedwell Bay Road.
"I'm not under the impression it's a safety issue in its entirety," Clay said. "I think there are safety issues there but just looking at the extent of the elimination of parking here is a killer. I've been parking there for, that I can remember, for 37 years."
Dilworth agreed, saying that moving parking further away from the lake would only put more pedestrians on the roads.
The PMPD did not respond to The Tri-City News' request for accident statistics on Bedwell Bay Road.
There is designated parking at Sasamat's White Pine Beach but it's vastly inadequate for the area's needs during the busy summer months. Unfortunately, that's a problem that's beyond the reach of Port Moody council as parking at White Pine falls under the jurisdiction of Metro Vancouver as part of the Belcarra Park facilities.
"I have a problem with this coming to us from the police without any consultation with Metro Vancouver," Dilworth said before joining her colleagues in voting down the parking ban and directing city staff to begin consultations with Metro Vancouver about expanding the parking area for Sasamat Lake and White Pine Beach on the existing Metro Vancouver park lands.
Two TransLink buses, the C26 and 150, make regular hourly stops at White Pine Beach and Bedwell Bay Road from Coquitlam and Port Moody.
