Bike lanes a win for business, cyclists and the entire community
By Lethbridge Herald on September 1, 2023.
Editor:
Bicycle infrastructure is appearing everywhere lately. In some cities, we see a complete transformation like in London, Paris, or Montreal. Other places like Calgary and Edmonton have a core network that is being improved and expanded. Even in Alberta’s smaller cities like Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and right here in Lethbridge we can see cycling networks taking shape. Clearly cities all over want to get more people riding bikes. So why is that?
There are the obvious benefits of course – bicycles are small, they take up less space on crowded roads, and they can park just about anywhere. They produce no air pollution, they\’re quiet, and they\’re accessible to people too young or too old to operate a vehicle, giving them independence they would otherwise lack.
And of course, they’re just plain fun, especially when an e-bike can take the edge off a steep hill or a headwind.
Other reasons are more practical, and more surprising.
The parking spaces, wide lanes, road wear, and healthcare costs associate with motor vehicles add up fast. While the specifics vary wildly, in most places the taxpayer pays as much for our vehicle travel as we do. More trips taken by bike saves us all money, no matter how we get around.
They also provide a boost to local business. People on bikes are more likely to shop local, and they spend more money overall (all that saved gas money has to go somewhere).
Business improvement districts in many cities have shifted from opposing bike lanes to being some of their strongest supporters as the benefits become clear.
They’re a win for drivers, a win for taxpayers, a win for local business, and of course a win for cyclists. It’s hard to imagine a better investment that a city could make. However, change can be hard – perhaps hardest for businesses on the streets now occupied by construction crews and noisy machinery.
That makes this a great time to support some of the amazing downtown businesses in Lethbridge, and to look forward to visiting them more once our new bike lanes are ready to go.
Keilan Scholten
Lethbridge
13-12
Don’t forget to drag along your 2” chain and a lock that requires a blow torch to defeat, change all the wheels to lug nuts, take the seat with you and strip anything else off of it that you can when you go “downtown”. Otherwise, see the front page of the Herald for info from the police re: bike theft and where they go. Don’t forget to tie an anvil to it as well. You should read up on the success of “bike lane” programs in Edmonton. Lethbridge is always monkey see, monkey do.
Changing wheels to lug nuts?
Welcome to the modern age where you change out quick release skewers with ones that need a special key.
Does away with the chain as well.
Sarcasm.
And a win for the bike thieves and bicycle shops who replace stolen bikes.
I walk on 7 avenue south from 20th street to 4th street back and forth on almost daily and the most bicycles I have seen on that dedicated bicycle boulevard has been 6 bicycles and that was on a weekend.
Stats were thrown around stating the E-bikes had made a big impact on downtown businesses, but they didn’t state that they were brought in at the end of COVID, when many shops were closed!
This is southern Alberta and the winters can be very long and severe so you want to destroy main thoroughfares and traffic flow (which kill downtown business further) to put in bike lanes for what 100 people. Most of the bicycles you see downtown are in the drug/crime trade.
You forgot to mention that other centers have removed the bike lanes because it killed business and the lanes were not being used as expected.
You also forgot to mention the high costs to implement them, the large aging population in Lethbridge who need their vehicles to go to appointments and shop, how Lethbridge is sprawled out, requiring a vehicle to shop or get to appointments, the few under 10 people who will use those expensive bike paths in the winter, but as we have seen in other centers (even a lawsuit against a city) demands keep those keep those bike lanes free of ice and snow in the winter, and realistically the number of residents who will use these paths to ride their bikes to shop. How much can you carry on your bicycle?
If you lived in Kelowna or Vancouver where the winters are not as harsh it may be more viable, but for Lethbridge it would costs millions to build and millions more to maintain in the winter, because those less than ten people who will use them will demand they are snow and ice free.
Often people come from other cities or countries and do not understand the winters we have in this area, and want to have things that are not viable in this area. Why are other centers removing bike paths already, in some cases from pressure for the business community?
In this city it would be a loss for taxpayers and a loss for downtown businesss. After saying that, I am sure the word will get out that someone has stated that 7th avenue is not being used so I will see the most bicycles I have ever seen on my walk, a short term blitz by pro bike pathers to try to show it is actually being used after millions was spent to designate it.
Once again, a few hundred want to drain the taxpayer for a concept which will just not be cost effective and cost us all, including business.
Remind me, how long does winter last here?
I’ve been cycling since mid April….
Right! I often see at no bikes on the 7th ave trail while walking for an extended period. I’m certain someone in City Hall who has influence is a bicycling enthusiast, so has a personal agenda here!
Utter rubbish. Nobody uses the bike lanes. For the overall cost of installing them, they are a massive financial boondoggle.
Just another case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. Cyclists are a special breed of whiners for sure.
I have driven through the 13th St and 7 Ave S special bike intersection a thousand times and have not seen a single friggin bike using it.
The whining appears to be coming from someone else here.
Stating facts is not whining. Almost no one uses these expensive bike lanes.
7th Ave is where cyclists go to tempt fate. Dangerous place. Same with bike lanes. Footpaths, miles of them, are the place for cyclists.
I’ll agree that main arteries should be avoided.
But: Bikes are considered road vehicles under the Law if I remember correctly.
And if you mean tempting fate means having to be aware of your surroundings. Welll, ya…public roads are a two-way street. We’re supposed to respect all road users.
And sidewalks are not the place for bikes.
That’s actually also a Law.
Said nothing about sidewalks, Walking paths that are shared. Although some pedestrians choose to ignore this fact. Am well aware of my surroundings, that is precisely why I haven’t been killed by someone who blows stops signs, enters traffic circles without looking. I have been ditched while someone making a left turn and ignores who is in the crosswalk on a walk light. Also dog walkers who have no idea we have dog parks and are entitled to let Fifi off the leash and crap wherever they please. I use the roads where applicable, not the middle of MM Dr, and use signals so spare me the law lecture.
7th avenue south between Mayor Magrath Drive and 4th street south is a dedicated bike boulevard with speed reduced to 30 kph and I have never seen any dangerous driving on it. Traffic flow was destroyed and you do not see much traffic on it except for the locals. Nothing dangerous about it.
I just completed a walk from 20th street south to 4th street south and back on 7th avenue. I saw 5 vehicles all driving slow and 1 bicycle!
It shows after all money and restrictions created that people just are not that willing to bike in this area.
But, council is pretty good at blowing millions to appease a few hundred people and the plans are to further restrict traffic flow going to downtown by reducing lanes and adding bike lanes on 3rd avenue.
They are hell-bent on destroying the downtown core! People will not come to an area where there is constant congestion. This isn’t Vancouver, Calgary or Winnipeg and people in the area don’t even like to go to the south end Mayor Magrath Drive to shop because of all the traffic lights they have to stop at, sometimes all of them!
Try doing it every day at differentiating times. Trust me, 7th Ave Bike path is dangerous. It is not the east west traffic it is the north south traffic.
People on bikes are more likely to shop??? more likely than who? Hey Honey, I’m going to do a Costco run on my bike….. LOL what a silly afrticle, fake news!
7 avenue so. bike lane cost the local taxpayer $500,000. Hard to believe to look “progressive”. Some locals tell me most of the bikes you see along 7th ,are stolen.