Calgary getting new protected bike lane

Calgary’s bike network is getting an upgrade.

The city will be installing a new separated bike lane running in both directions along 1st Street between the Bow and Elbow Rivers.

Recent bicycle lane installations in the city have been met with criticism that they were not well-researched and were built along the wrong routes. The new plans, however, seem to be well accepted by most of the community. The new lanes will help connect cyclists with Olympic Plaza, the Epcor Centre and Stampede Park, and will link up with existing bike infrastructure.

The most eastern lane of 1st Street will be converted into the new two-lane bike path, which will be protected from traffic by a concrete median.

Businesses in the area seem excited about the new lanes as they will allow for slower moving traffic, which could translate increased foot traffic and sales.

“For the first time, we’re seeing something that actually connects to previous bike infrastructure and it goes through the core. It starts to make sense. This is really worth pushing for,” Maggie Schofield, executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, told the Calgary Herald. “Will it slow down traffic? Yes, probably some, but it probably won’t get a lot slower. It’s already slow.”

Even with the new plans, some cyclo-commuters are not overly excited about the plans. Some still don’t feel safe on the downtown streets even with a push toward better bicycle infrastructure. They claim there need to be more east-west routes, not new north-south routes.

“That one makes sense because it helps fill a need on the east side of Calgary and there’s lots of capacity to allow for cyclists,” said city councillor Druh Farrell. “An east-west route will be more difficult.”

Still, for cyclists in a city that has seen resistance to bike lanes, the new route does seem like a good sign.