St. Albert residents love their trail system for recreational cycling but cyclists who commute on two wheels think more would join them if St. Albert did more to be bike friendly.
One of those enthusiasts is Bill Lillie, a 50-year-old Forest Lawn resident who often rides to Edmonton. Lillie is one of several residents who has written to the Gazette in recent months to comment about the bicycle-friendliness of the city. His view? It’s not friendly at all.
“When I ride from here to Edmonton, St. Albert is the scary part,” Lillie said.
That’s because Edmonton has wider curb lanes on its main thoroughfares and more side streets that cyclists can take to avoid traffic, Lillie said.
He believes St. Albert is quite dangerous for cyclists looking for basic point A to B transportation, especially for those who feel it’s inappropriate to ride on sidewalks, which is legal in St. Albert.
It would be difficult or impossible to change the existing infrastructure but it would be nice if the city had a policy for new roads, he said.
“It’s difficult for St. Albert, I know, but any new road construction planned, it would be nice if bike lanes were part of that plan,” he said.
One of the most common complaints from cyclists is that there are no safe routes in and out of Edmonton, said Andrew Phelps, co-owner of Cranky’s Bike Shop. St. Albert could also use a couple of designated bike routes for easier north-south travel, he said.
Mayor Nolan Crouse, a regular cyclist, said the city is above average for bicycle friendliness but its arterial roads are an exception.
“The entire design of St. Albert’s roads is clearly for cars,” Crouse said. “I avoid arterials and the Trail.”
He suspects that more people would cycle if there was better infrastructure but improvements would cost a lot of money and he’s not getting much pressure from residents on the issue.
“I just don’t see us in the next 10 years putting a lot of money toward bicycle trails, bicycle lanes on highways and roads,” Crouse said. “We don’t have the money for it.”
Mayoral candidate Shelley Biermanski feels that St. Albert offers good cycling within its boundaries as long as the existing trail network is properly maintained. She feels the city has to work with Edmonton to improve cycling access between the two cities.
“It wouldn’t be something I would want to spend a huge amount of money on because there’s lots of issues at the front right now,” she said.
St. Albert resident Brigitte Koelbl is one of those residents who is afraid to ride on the streets.
“I would probably bicycle more but I don’t know how they can make [the streets] more friendly,” she said. “There are people that are riding on major roads and they hold up traffic.”
A lot of people would like to commute by bike but most are afraid to, agreed Mark Fraser, a 49-year-old Grandin resident who bikes daily to and from downtown Edmonton. He doesn’t think it’s possible for bicycles and cars to co-exist on the streets, especially given the number of close calls and animosity that exist between the users.
“You need to separate the two,” Fraser said.
“A good start would be simply painting a line on the road and designating it a bike lane, let people get used to it and go from there,” he said.
“I don’t expect bike lanes everywhere overnight but you’ve got to start somewhere.”
The City of Edmonton unveiled a new bicycle transportation plan in 2008, which council passed last fall. The plan calls for the addition of nearly 500 kilometres of bike routes.
Assembling the plan required two committed councillors and a lot of advocacy from the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters, said Alexa Pendzich, a project manager with the organization.
Edmonton’s council has earmarked $17 million over three years, with about half directed specifically to cycling routes, said transportation engineer Claire Ellick.
Since 1992 the city has planned new arterial roads with wide curb lanes to allow room for cyclists, though these aren’t marked, Ellick said.
Edmonton’s plan has identified 142 and 170 Streets as main connector routes between St. Albert and Edmonton. A multi-use trail will eventually be built alongside 142 Street and some form of bike lane will be designated within the 170 Street corridor, Ellick said.
Pendzich, who is a St. Albert resident, thinks her city is bike friendly but could do far more, such as improve bicycle parking and bring in bike lanes on certain streets. She spent two years convincing St. Albert to put bike racks on its transit buses, an initiative that became official in May.
While St. Albert seems to have a healthy population of cyclists, it doesn’t have an organized advocacy group, which is something residents might want to consider, Pendzich said.
“Don’t just keep complaints or ideas to yourself,” Pendzich said. “Get them to political leaders. Get them to anyone who will listen.”
