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Whitehorse developing official cycling strategy

The Bicycle Network Plan will facilitate the development of new on-street bike lanes, multi-use paths

The City of Whitehorse is developing its first official cycling strategy, intended to make the city safer and more inviting for local cyclists—participants of a scene in which public interest, the CBC reports, has spiked in recent years.

That strategy, reports say, is called The Bicycle Network Plan.

According to data compiled by Statistics Canada, city cycling in Whitehorse has jumped by about 50 per cent between 2001 and 2011, resulting in a visible increase in riders on local streets. Based on those figures, the Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition, together with the city’s government, drafted the plan in order to set guidelines that will meet two main objectives: the future development of on-street bike lanes, as well as a network of protected, multi-use paths.

Forest Pearson, a member of the Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition, described the plan as one that makes the process of developing new infrastructure more effective and streamlined, especially when prospective construction projects are on the table. “When a street is being rebuilt, or there are investments being made,” Pearson told the CBC, “we don’t [want to] miss the opportunity, and we can build that piece of infrastructure when the time comes.”

While many riders in Whitehorse remain nervous about sharing the road with vehicle traffic, what the Bicycle Network Plan aims to achieve will change that, Pearson added.

“There is a big portion of the population that is interested in cycling,” Pearson told CBC reporters, “but they are concerned. They fear traffic and things like that. It’s just that we haven’t built a town that makes people feel safe.”

The plan, he said, will also make it easier for Whitehorse to access federal grant funding earmarked for bike infrastructure.