Calgary councillor wants bike lane space taken from sidewalks, not roads

Calgary Coun. Sean Chu suggested that the dedicated two-way cycle track proposed for First Street S.E. take space from the sidewalk instead of the road. City council will vote on the status of the cycle track after reviewing the entire cycling network plan for the downtown area in April.

The city installed the first cycle track last summer on Seventh Street S.W., which has helped increase the number of trips by bicycle from 250 to 1,100 in the downtown area. The two-way cycle track is separated from the motorized vehicle lanes by a concrete barrier.

Its success has launched the proposal of a second cycle track on First Street S.E., one of the busier roadways in the downtown core. Coun. Chu expressed his concern that the cycle track would cause too much additional congestion and he would rather see the space taken from the sidewalk instead of from the motorized vehicle lanes.

“[At] any given time, you have police pulling people over or construction, the traffic is just crazy,” Coun. Chu said. “Why do you have to compete with a vehicle? Why can’t you take three feet, four feet, five feet off the sidewalk and be on the sidewalk?”