Cycling Master Plan adopted by Council
PLAN WILL BE CONSIDERED AS PART OF FUTURE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND OPERATING BUDGET DISCUSSIONS
The forthcoming new bike boulevard on 7 Avenue South will just be the beginning. That’s if the Cycling Master Plan keeps moving forward.
Monday, during the regular city council meeting, the plan was adopted by the City of Lethbridge to help guide future decisions on cycling infrastructure. The approval came with an amendment to include mid-cycle (two-year) reports back to council.
Functional planning and detailed design — as well as exact funding sources — still need to occur, said Adam St. Amant, a transportation engineer who made the presentation to council Monday.
It could be a 15- to 30-year process for funding. But council has a lot of control over the speed and creative ways to provide money, St. Amant said.
“It took awhile to get this plan together, but I think it came together very well. We’ve got a very good product here at the end,” he said. “It will lead the planning for the cycling network going into the future.”
“We know cycling is important to our community,” said Mayor Chris Spearman. “We’ve seen that in the strong participation and feedback from residents during the development of this plan.”
“It’s very important to have this longer term plan. It’s going to give us direction that will make a nice, logical connected cycling network here in Lethbridge,” said St. Amant, adding open houses, a community telephone survey, and pop-up engagements at the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College, helped gauge the interest.
“We had a lot of good feedback and we had a lot of good input into selecting routes that people will use.”
This Cycling Master Plan was completed to complement the Parks and Pathways Master Plan that began to identify and develop cycling routes and will act as a guide in order to prioritize future cycling improvements throughout the city.
The plan will be considered as part of future capital improvement and operating budget discussions. Council recently approved C-6 Bikeways/Pathways along roadways for approximately $1 million per year for the next four years.
The plan also aligns with work underway to build a bike boulevard along 7 Avenue South.
“It will provide a good eastwest connection that’s fairly straight across the city that will connect downtown to Henderson Lake,” St. Amant said. “Seeing that type of opportunity for active transportation and having that comfortable of a corridor will encourage people to get out on their bikes.”
“On one hand, we’re very excited to see a cycling master plan adopted by city council,” said Tyler Stewart, president of the BikeBridge Cycling Association.
“It’s extremely important for a city like Lethbridge, that, as we know is growing over 100,000 people, to support things like cycling infrastructure to have both a healthier community and reduce congestion on the road. The major concern we have, as was discussed with council today, is the two phases which each have a timeline of 15 years. It was really great to hear members of city council kind of exploring how this can be expedited. It’s not something we need in 15 years. We need it in the next few years.”
Stewart added he was encouraged to see the feedback during the public engagement process.
“We think the plan is good, we just are very excited to see it happen sooner than 15 years,” he said. “We would be extremely happy if we could see the majority of those first 13 phases, as described, built in three years or less.”
“Safety plays a big part in our plan going forward,” said Coun. Bridget Mearns, in a release. “The Cycling Master Plan overlays important data, such as vehicle traffic and near misses or collisions, with public feedback to determine what the safest locations and path types would be for those areas.”