Bell: Bike lane clash in Edmonton, is Calgary next in line for a fight?

Bike lanes. They're back in the news and the political temperature is going up.

Devin Dreeshen, the Alberta government’s point man on pavement, is not afraid. He is not afraid to shake things up when required and it is often required. The province has a plan to introduce a new law in the fall where they could stop useless bike lanes from being built or rip out useless bike lanes already built, This week Dreeshen heads straight into the belly of the beast.

The Danielle Smith government’s transportation minister visits a group of Edmontonians who fought against a bike lane in their neighbourhood. They scored a partial win. They got back some of the parking their city wanted to take away from them.

While Dreeshen meets with these residents who descends upon the scene? Unhappy cyclists chanting slogans. Cyclists meet the locals, Things heat up Headlines come out of the capital city.

Tensions rise as Edmontonians square off over issue of bike lanes. Edmontonians who oppose bike lanes cross paths with advocates in fiery standoff. Protesters interrupt minister walkaround as Alberta considers bike lane legislation.

The locals don’t want a bike lane on their street. The locals tell a cyclist he doesn’t live in the area and doesn’t understand. A cyclist doesn’t believe the residents should be able to park in front of their house.

“I don’t agree public roads should be used as storage spaces for personal property,” she says. In Edmonton, Mayor Andrew Knack says we shouldn’t be fussing around with the bike lanes because we’re taking away attention from the things that actually matter. Excuse me.

A few years ago, city politicians told us bike lanes were a thing that actually mattered. That’s why they were shoved down our throats. Now when people are pushing back, bike lanes don’t actually matter.

In Calgary, Mayor Jeromy Farkas is holding any fire he may have . In the past, Farkas has said he is not in favour of keeping a bike lane that’s not working. Name one, Mr. Mayor.

Are you thinking of 15th Avenue S.W. or 8th Avenue S.W. or an unexplained and largely unused bike lane in the burbs? While you’re at it, would you light a fire under the Calgary city hall paper shufflers and get them to send Dreeshen the detailed information he requested on each individual bike lane. The hired hands are being difficult.

As for the cyclists in Calgary, do they even realize what’s going on? A lot of them don’t show up to use the bike lanes, why would we expect them to show up for a protest. One cycling advocate says it is not important whether any people cycle in the bike lanes.

He feels just having them on the street, even though little used, makes Calgary a world-class city. Move over Amsterdam, here comes Calgary! Er... not!

One gripe of some cyclists is the province creating a space on the web where folks can express their concerns over bike lanes. A cyclist calls it a snitch line. There is no place for him to support bike lanes.

The chance for citizens to have a voice is long overdue. A decade ago Calgarians didn’t have much of a chance to tell anyone how they felt about bike lanes. Calgary city hall, under former mayor Naheed Nenshi, just bulldozed the bike lanes over the people.

The self-styled smart set had nothing but contempt for the taxpayers, figuring citizens are too stupid or too uncool to understand bike lanes in Calgary would be a huge success. For the most part, they aren’t. The province has now set up a portal at alberta.ca where they can hear people’s gripes about bike lanes .

Things like reduced parking, the cost for taxpayers, the loss of vehicle lanes, the increased traffic congestion, the bike lanes being used only by the very few, less access to businesses or residences, the economic hit to businesses. You can also upload photos, including snapshots of deserted bike lanes. Are Calgary cyclists up for raising a stink at possibly losing bike lanes or not getting as many new bike lanes built?

Who knows? If there is a bike lane clash in Calgary, I predict Dan McLean, the mince-no-words south Calgary councillor, will say his piece on the whole affair. “I guarantee you there’s too many bike lanes in Calgary,” he says.

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