Residents raise concerns about bike lanes in Riverbend designed to slow traffic

Some residents of Calgary's Riverbend area are raising concerns about an adaptive bike lane project aimed at slowing traffic, launched on Friday.

The three-week pilot project has reduced 18th Street S.E. to one traffic lane in each direction between Quarry Park Boulevard and Rivervalley Drive S.E. from Aug. 19 to Sept. 12.

Coun. Kourtney Penner says the goal of the bike lane project is to address ongoing concerns about safety in the area that she's been hearing since before she took office.

"We've heard a lot of concerns from residents about excessive speed causing increased vehicle noise and just a hostile road environment, just based on the way that 18 Street is designed," said the Ward 11 representative.

But some residents have taken to social media and even created a petition against the pilot, saying they weren't consulted about the project and the bike lanes don't fix the root cause of the traffic issues.

Resident complaints

Aymie Rondeau, a resident of Riverbend's neighbouring community to the south, Quarry Park, says the bike lanes are just adding more traffic congestion to the area.

"It just seems really poorly thought out and really is not solving the root cause of the problems that people have expressed about traffic in the area," said Rondeau.

Tracy Tatomir, a Riverbend resident of nine years, says her main concern is safety — especially for schoolchildren who take the bus.

In a Facebook post, Penner said school buses will come to a stop in the left lane and activate their safety signals so students can cross the bike lane to the sidewalk.

"If the motorist got angry, they could dodge in and speed past ... the pedestrian or the rider," said Tatomir.

Tatomir says she's also concerned about how it will affect local businesses as well as emergency vehicles.

"If you're down to a single lane due to adding a temporary bike lane, how are fire and ambulance and rescue vehicles supposed to get through in a timely manner and in a safe manner for all?"

She says the city should have consulted with the community, asking for any solutions they might have, before implementing this pilot.

"Now we have outraged citizens who feel no one's listening," said Tatomir.

Rondeau started a petition to gather community members' complaints in one place and forward it to city council when the pilot is complete.

The petition now has more than 400 signatures.

"My ask of this is that this is not a permanent solution and that we look for other ways to improve traffic flow in the area," said Rondeau.

Stop tampering with bike lane, says councillor

Penner says she continues to receive mixed reactions about the pilot, and while not everyone is in favour of it, many have reached out to support the initiative.

However, she says, some are moving or knocking over the traffic cones.

"It's really hampering its ability to be effective and its ability to be safe because residents are tampering with it," said Penner.

Sam El-Kadri, a cyclist who often rides on 18th Street S.E., used the bike lane on Saturday and noticed some pylons had been thrown onto the grass.

"That was kind of disappointing to see," said El-Kadri. 

He says he'd like people to give the pilot a chance and see that it's good to have separated infrastructure so that bikes and scooters aren't getting in the way of cars and pedestrians.

Penner says it's deeply frustrating and concerning that this is happening, especially for a pilot that's running for only three weeks.

She says it's also disheartening that those who have talked about interventions and requested changes to the road aren't open minded about a potential solution to the community's issues.

"I think we have to remember that it is a pilot. It already has an end date. It has three weeks."

Penner encourages unhappy residents to come forward with alternative solutions to continue the conversation about how to solve the traffic problems.

"But in the meantime, please, please let it proceed. Experience it, don't make it unsafe for others who want to use it."