Council chambers we busy yesterday as residents came out to let the city’s assets and infrastructure standing policy committee know what they think about bike lanes.
The discussion stemmed from a council motion in March, which would have looked into the cost of removing the protected cycling lanes from downtown and discontinue design and construction of news ones.
BACKGROUND: Council pushes bike lane motion to committee meeting
At that meeting, council pushed the discussion to the May 2 standing policy committee so residents could have their say.
The committee voted to recommend keeping the bike lanes for a year before getting a report on usage, safety and other concerns. The recommendation will have to get through council before it can be approved.
Speakers were split on support for the bike infrastructure, with many opposed citing accessibility concerns because of the additional curb. Those in favour pointed to vibrancy created by having bike lanes downtown and safety of them being separate from the road.
“I think it’s very abundantly clear that most people are not against bike lanes at all – it was a lot of the process that went through it. It’s with the need for some changes, which I think administration has heard,” said councillor Mark Campbell, who chairs the committee.
