Transportation minister to meet with Edmonton mayor about ‘problematic’ northside bike lanes

Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's transportation minister, says he plans to meet with Edmonton's mayor about "problematic" new bike lanes.

While a section of a major northside roadway has already been converted to multi-modal use including bike lanes, the province suggests it could reverse the decision to construct them.

Devin Dreeshen, the province’s transportation minister, addressed Edmonton’s bike lanes on Tuesday with media, suggesting the government could intervene in projects it finds “problematic.” He’s said in the past the province could even remove them.

Dreeshan discussed 132 Avenue in particular, where a seven-block stretch of it between 97 and 113A streets has been converted to a two-lane roadway for motor vehicles straddled by two-lane bike paths on either side.

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The minister met with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek last week to discuss the issue and plans to meet with Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi next week.

“We’ve heard tons of petitions and lots of people have been writing in saying that that is a bad four-lane major thoroughfare that’s going to be shrunk in half,” Dreeshan told media on Tuesday.

“What some of the councillors are saying in the media, I thought that was pretty (grim), of not listening to those concerns, and to see that project still going ahead is frustrating.”

Dreeshan first waded into the northside bike lane debate in April, when he and Karen Principe, the city councillor for the area, jointly shared their concerns about the bike lanes there. At the time, he said the removal of the existing bike lanes is “on the table.”

It’s only the start of the project along 132 Avenue. Eventually, the city plans to redevelop the thoroughfare so it has bike lanes for about seven kilometres between Fort Road and 127 Avenue, passing through several school zones.

Dino Depner told CTV News Edmonton the east-west artery was once “like a drag strip” for vehicles “because it’s sort of hidden, and it’s a wide road.”

The area resident says it’s now “way, way better.”

“People are actually yielding to me around here now,” Depner said while sitting on his bike on one of the 132 Avenue paths near the Grand Trunk recreation centre. “I’m waving to people instead of ... flipping them off.”

Dreeshen insists bike lanes are fine as long as they don’t take away travel lanes for cars.

“There are more and more drivers in Edmonton every year, and to reduce the road capacity for those vehicles is the opposite of what we’re doing as a provincial government, when we’re investing billions of dollars into adding more roads and more lanes,” he said.