Councillors in Sarnia to consider revising bylaws that prohibit sidewalk riding

In Sarnia, Ont., it’s illegal for bikes with wheel diameters larger than 21″ to ride on the sidewalk—a practice most serious riders tend to avoid. As the Sarnia Observer reports, that means that everything but a child’s bike is not allowed on the sidewalks of the Ontario city.

Some in the local bike community, though, are trying to change that.

As long-time Sarnia rider and local cycling advocate Hal Regnier told reporters that there are areas in the city where cycling infrastructure is non-existent at best, which is what prompts him to take to the sidewalk himself. For Regnier, his rationale is bolstered by another apparent fact: the same areas, he said—Murphy and London Roads, for example—see minimal pedestrian traffic.

So why not take to the sidewalk, he asks?

“I’ve been personally cut off, air-brushed, swore at,” Regnier, who has been riding in Sarnia 35 years, told reporters. “I don’t want to ride on the sidewalks because of the bumps and everything else that goes along with it. But if it’s too busy, and I don’t see anybody for miles on the sidewalk…”

Regnier suggested that Sarnia’s city government revise the bylaw that makes it illegal to ride in pedestrian spaces. Given that the bylaw was adopted when Sarnia saw more bikes than cars, the Observer reported, some local lawmakers see sufficient reason in Regnier’s case to take another look at the status quo.

“This has been coming up since 1892,” said Sarnia mayor Mike Bradley, referring to the 100-year-plus bylaw and the long, complex history of cycling in the Ontario city. “If you look at many parts of the city, I think it could be feasible.”

“Perhaps this bylaw needs to be looked at again,” agreed city councillor Anne Marie Gillis.

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