Cambridge exploring bike lanes

CAMBRIDGE — Temporary bike lanes have cropped up across the region, and the city of Cambridge wants to explore city streets that could be added to the mix.

Mayor Kathryn McGarry said she has heard this is an ideal time to install new bike lanes across the city as traffic has been lower than usual due to the pandemic.

This is an opportunity to provide a trial run to get people comfortable enough to hop on a bike, she said.

The Region of Waterloo will install temporary bike lanes on regional roads by reducing curb lanes to create a segregated space for cyclists. One of them is along Coronation Boulevard in Cambridge.

The region’s bike lanes will be in place until the end of October. Cambridge city staff say it plans to mimic the region’s rapid implementation style of installing temporary bike lanes in the city.

“We are also looking at a number of projects we could quickly implement from the cycling master plan, and those would actually be more permanent,” said Shannon Noonan, manager of transportation engineering.

Some options the city will explore include: reducing or closing city streets for cyclists and pedestrians, closing curb lanes, closing blocks to through traffic, and increasing signage for way-finding along trails and bikeways.

“This is not just about COVID, hopefully this will be the future of active transportation,” said Coun. Mike Devine. While most councillors agreed with Devine, others were more cautious.

Coun. Jan Liggett said she doesn’t agree that traffic has been lower on city streets, especially along Coronation Boulevard, a high-traffic road that runs through Cambridge. Cambridge resident Tom Strickland said he has noticed more people cycling on sidewalks because they may not feel comfortable cycling on city streets.

He suggested the city should consider closing part of Main Street to create a pedestrian and cyclist friendly zone like the City of Waterloo did last week.