Tye Carson

Stewart Midwinter, director of BikeCalgary, says the city needs to invest ‘serious’ money into cycling infrastructure.

For years, Calgary’s cycling community has complained about the city’s bike system. First, there’s a lack of dedicated bike infrastructure. As well, riding on city roads is often hazardous. And, using the city’s haphazard yet busy recreational pathway system is equally dangerous for riders and pedestrians.

The city’s past studies aimed at addressing the issues were often casual afterthoughts that went nowhere in a city enamoured with cars, trucks and SUVs. There was the Calgary Cycle Plan in 1996, the Pathway and Bikeway Plan in 2001 and the Municipal Development Plan and the Calgary Transportation Plan in 2009.

On June 10, the city will release the latest chapter — a comprehensive cycling strategy based on surveys and input from local cycling advocates.

Yet enthusiasm among cyclists is cautious. They’ve heard the hype before, only to watch the city spin its wheels, going nowhere.

“We have every reason to believe that their hearts are in the right place,” says Stewart Midwinter, director of BikeCalgary. “The people that are writing the strategy certainly talk the talk, but it remains to be seen what’s going to be in the strategy exactly.”

Midwinter says the city needs to invest “serious” money into cycling infrastructure. Currently, Calgary allocates $12.6 million each year to cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Almost 40 per cent of that is dedicated solely to pedestrian overpasses.

It’s not enough compared to other cities, says Midwinter. Edmonton recently approved a two-year, $25-million bike infrastructure plan.

Portland, Ore., often hailed as a model cycling city, now sees up to 20 per cent of daily commuters use bicycles in some parts of that city. “They did this with about one per cent of the transportation budget,” says Midwinter. “To put it in perspective, for less than the cost of one mile of freeway, they have a complete bike network throughout the city.”

In Calgary, cyclists face angry motorists and oblivious pedestrians. The few on-street bike lanes in the city appear and disappear without notice. Lines delineating the bike lanes are barely visible. The city’s multitudes of pathways are mostly for recreational use, are disjointed and limit speeds to 20 km/h — no good for commuters.

“We have a great pathway system,” says Ald. Brian Pincott, a longtime cycling commuter. “But you have to make it comfortable and safe for people riding downtown. You can have all the bike lanes that get you to downtown, but if you can’t get around downtown it doesn’t matter.”

A recent city survey suggests 73 per cent of Calgarians want to cycle more, but are deterred by personal safety concerns, a lack of bike racks and change facilities and bike routes that don’t have a destination.

The soon-to-be released cycling strategy should provide city departments, including roads, recreation and transit, some clear direction to meet cyclists’ needs, says Pincott.

“Having a strategy in place, something that says we’re serious about cycling as a real transportation choice, lends weight to all of that so people actually start taking it seriously,” he says.

Getting serious about it requires infrastructure an “eight-year-old or an 80-year-old would feel comfortable riding on,” says Midwinter. That could be achieved by placing a row of concrete barriers on a road and turning it into a two-way bike lane, says Midwinter. “Painting a line on a road doesn’t do that.”

Dedicated bike infrastructure is not only safer, but it’s also “incredibly” cost effective, reduces traffic congestion and air pollution, and increases health benefits, says Pincott.

Underground parking stalls, which can cost up to $60,000 each, can fit 20 bicycles, he adds. “When you look at how cost effective cycling infrastructure and promoting cycling is, to me it’s a no-brainer.”