[TAS]

^

i included bike lanes as they were the "latest and greatest" reflection of a syndrome that is detrimental to the city and that gets applied to a lot more than just bike lanes.

if the city is going to spend more wisely however, new bike lanes - just like any of the other shiny pennies everyone wants - shouldn't get automatic funding when it comes to budget priorities given to new projects at the expense of existing infrastructure maintenance.

and, for what it's worth, other shiny pennies shouldn't be funded at the expense of providing proper infrastructure maintenance for existing bike lanes.

Ah, OK. I wasn't completely misunderstanding you. That's where the difference lies. I see bike lanes as a high priority in our transportation spending right now.

 

[itom987]

Some people ride their bike to work, when looking for a house they consider the time it will take them to get to work by bike. That works fine until they are laid off and can't find any related work within reasonable biking distance, and are forced to look at places on the opposite side of the city. Literally forced to drive a car. Bicycle transport in Edmonton will never become mainstream until the city is completely transformed into a true 15 minute walkable city like Paris.

E-bikes might help a bit but still won't win everyone over. I do want to see improvements made to the bike network but it shouldn't be at the expense of other transportation modes, especially if we can't properly maintain existing infrastructure.

 

[thommyjo]

I'm as big of an Edmonton booster as you'll find, but I don't think $170m for bike lanes is putting priorities in the right place. Basics first. Run before you can walk. That's not dumping on the city, that's just giving honest feedback.

Not a penny should be spent on bike lanes until we have a clean downtown and our major thoroughfares are not total embarrassments to anyone bringing in potential investors/new residents, etc.

This is silly. I’m sorry. Bike lanes are nothing special. They are a basic component of a modern city. Not having them is like not having sidewalks. It makes complete sense for us to build out bike lanes across our entire city to serve a much larger area and potentially number of people than what an equivalent costing overpass would serve.

Helping people bike to whyte ave and downtown is also key to upping vibrancy, safety, and supporting local businesses.

 

[thommyjo]

^

i included bike lanes as they were the "latest and greatest" reflection of a syndrome that is detrimental to the city and that gets applied to a lot more than just bike lanes.

if the city is going to spend more wisely however, new bike lanes - just like any of the other shiny pennies everyone wants - shouldn't get automatic funding when it comes to budget priorities given to new projects at the expense of existing infrastructure maintenance.

and, for what it's worth, other shiny pennies shouldn't be funded at the expense of providing proper infrastructure maintenance for existing bike lanes.

I think it’s hard to prioritize a pool that serves a few dozen people most days and has huge liability issues over bikes lanes that will be used by tens of thousands daily for a good chunk of the year.

I totally get what you’re saying though. Scona pool is a great example of poor management. It should have been maintained and seen as essential to keep open until the new rec centre opened.

Bike lanes are 100% a top priority imo though based on ROI and all the research around the critical need to quickly build out bike infrastructure to see ridership surge. A slow build out is proven to be much more expensive and less successful.

 

[Edmontonian]

Completely agree about the bike lanes, North America purposefully built itself to be car centric and car reliant but it's time to change that, and Edmonton could be a leader of that initiative. Bike lanes are important to have around an entire city not just the core, and are perfectly functional in winter as long as they're well maintained. Having more people in an area and less cars is extremely beneficial for the reasons Thommy listed above. Cycling also encourages better health, and if executed well many might not see the reason to own a car, which is a massive expense.

Of course knowing this city, I'm expecting some cut backs on the plan, some delays, some poor execution and probably some poor maintenance in the winter. There might be a better use of our funds out there but the importance of a strong bike infrastructure shouldn't be disregarded, every city is going to need this soon and I'd like for us to be ahead of the curve.

 

[Didama]

This is silly. I’m sorry. Bike lanes are nothing special. They are a basic component of a modern city. Not having them is like not having sidewalks. It makes complete sense for us to build out bike lanes across our entire city to serve a much larger area and potentially number of people than what an equivalent costing overpass would serve.

Helping people bike to whyte ave and downtown is also key to upping vibrancy, safety, and supporting local businesses.

I think y'all are missing my point here. I actually love that so many people on here are passionate about bike lanes...I am too. My point is that I wish city council was equally passionate about cleaning up our pigsty of a city. Where's the $170m for basic things like garbage pickup on downtown street?? Why has there been a dead tree in the middle of Jasper Ave for 10 years?? Yes, I get it... bike lanes ARE part of the basics. But so is a clean downtown, yet no one at city hall seems to give a s**t about that. Sorry I'm just so tired of having to be too embarrassed to invite anyone from Europe over to see my city.

 

[YEG imagineer]

The city has planted hundreds of trees on Calgary Trail on the west side around 28th Ave. Just wished they had mixed the trees instead of rows of monoculture. So we’re beautifying the exit to our city. When is the tree planting occurring on Gateway?

 

[Didama]

Meanwhile half the plants under the 23rd Avenue overpass on Gateway seem to have died this summer due to what appears to be total neglect. Perfect illustration of my frustration with City Hall.

 

[Seamusmuldrew]

The city has planted hundreds of trees on Calgary Trail on the west side around 28th Ave. Just wished they had mixed the trees instead of rows of monoculture. So we’re beautifying the exit to our city. When is the tree planting occurring on Gateway?

I love seeing new trees planted anywhere but I can’t stand seeing those rows of the same trees, especially when they’re elms. Makes me wonder if the city would like to stay DED-free.

 

[MacLac]

I love seeing new trees planted anywhere but I can’t stand seeing those rows of the same trees, especially when they’re elms. Makes me wonder if the city would like to stay DED-free.

Myself on the contrary....love Elms all day, every day - best tree canopy on the planet. Sorry, these "100's of trees are newly planted?" By the Chevron / Remax office?

 

[roe_]

No question there seems to be an imbalance between operational and capital expenditures by the City, and I am certainly not taking issue with that. There are plenty of capital projects that could/should be de-prioritized, but we constantly have this discussion whenever any money is spent on bike infrastructure. You can make the argument that we can either have Scona Pool or the new bike lanes, but frankly I think it is a false dichotomy and falls into the same trap that we've been in for the last 50 years.

Maybe the City should consider delaying the 50 street overpass, which will cost more than the entire proposed bike network expansion.

 

[YEG imagineer]

^^^ yes Maclac it is around the Chevron gas station.

 

[EdmTrekker]

Meanwhile half the plants under the 23rd Avenue overpass on Gateway seem to have died this summer due to what appears to be total neglect. Perfect illustration of my frustration with City Hall.

And your logic is then that the bike lane project should be cancelled, gutted and funding transferred to clean the downtown core? The Bike lane project is a permanent transportation mode - and require minimum cost to keep up in the decades going forward. It will take cars off the roads, a major step in building an eco friendly city and creates a fantastic network of bike lanes for families to be together exploring our city while improving their over all health through exercise. The other benefits like less pollution, co2 emissions should be obvious. The issue of keeping Edmonton clean is also important and you might want to start a thread on that and promote your passion and I am sure others will tell you about plans in progress etc. You can ride a bike and keep this city clean at the same time ... but not from a car or sitting on your arse and complaining.

 

[IanO]

I think you are missing the point though.

If you cannot get the basics done right, you are going to absolutely fail when you tackle more complicated and convoluted things.

 

[TAS]

I think you are missing the point though.

If you cannot get the basics done right, you are going to absolutely fail when you tackle more complicated and convoluted things.

Totally agree. I mean I think our city should continue to invest heavily in roads as a long term strategy to improve traffic times etc but I just think that more complicated projects like the $180 million 50th St overpass, with two significant cost increases to date before even getting started, along with hundreds of millions on the Yellowhead Trail, should wait until we can get the basics mastered like cleaning up our downtown streets and looking after our planters among other things.

I mean I really hate to say this but I don't think the city should take on any new road projects until it can properly maintain the vehicular roads we do have.

I think we're all on the same page here.