New bike lanes ready to roll
City team to get downtown cyclists up to speed on complex set of rules
The first three downtown bike lanes are set to open Friday and city officials say they’ll be mounting a major education campaign for a complicated set of new rules.
Cyclists will be required to make two-step turns where the lanes end or they must turn across traffic.
That means stopping at the intersection, manoeuvring into a bike box when it’s safe to do so, then rolling straight through the intersection with the traffic light.
“It’s a huge learning curve,” said Olga Messinis, project manager with the city, as she took reporters on a tour of the new bike lanes Thursday.
The eight- to 12-member street team will be at key intersections Friday and peak times throughout the summer, showing cyclists how to use the lanes and thanking motorists who stay out of the green boxes.
The team has also been working with city police.
It’s still legal to cycle on the street, but using the bike lane without using the bike boxes could earn a cyclist a fine.
Barriers on 100 Avenue, 103 Street and 107 Street will be removed starting after the morning rush hour Friday.
Ward 6 Coun. Scott McKeen congratulated city staff at the tour Thursday, saying, “This project has happened at light speed relative to what we normally see at the city.”
The lanes will provide safe passage for cyclists of all ages and abilities, provide more options for those who can’t afford a car, and “provide predictability for motorists,” McKeen said.
“I’m really excited to see it used.”
The lanes come with traffic signal upgrades, which should start to ease congestion. New cameras installed above the signal will recognize a vehicle in the left-turn lane and only give the left-turn phase when needed. That should shorten wait times for opposing traffic.
New vehicle counters have been installed to help University of Alberta researchers measure the impact of the new bike lanes. Messinis said, if the weather holds, most lanes will be open by the third week of June, ahead of schedule.
The 105 Avenue section of the bike grid is still in the final design stage, but should be open by the end of the summer, said Messinis.
A connection to the coming funicular in the river valley is still in the concept design stage. General supervisor Daniel Vriend said proposals for that route and other bike connections will come back to council’s urban planning committee this fall.