Future of year-old Moncton bike lanes coming up for debate at public meeting

A year after Moncton council flip-flopped on keeping bike lanes along Mountain Road, the issue is resurfacing, with a councillor pushing to restore four lanes of traffic.

Coun. Bryan Butler, who represents the northwest of the city, said he still hears from people who find the new traffic configuration unsafe. 

Last summer, the city reduced a two-kilometre stretch near the casino from Woodhaven Court to Front Mountain Road from four lanes to two. It includes a shared left-turn lane in the middle and painted bike lanes along the edges of the road.

Five weeks after the bike lanes opened, council voted to restore four lanes of traffic, but then voted to hold off for a year to study the effect of the change to two lanes. 

Favours single multi-use path

Butler said he wants four lanes restored with one sidewalk turned into a wider multi-use path to accommodate cyclists. 

"Nobody is saying anything about bashing cyclists, they just want to make this road safe for everybody," Butler said. 

Butler and Coun. Brian Hicks are set to host a public meeting later this month to get feedback on the changes before the issue is expected to return to council in September. 

The meeting is set for Aug. 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lutz Mountain Meeting House. 

Krysta Cowling, a cycling advocate, has cycled along the new bike lanes and driven that area as well.

"What I notice most about the changes on the bike is that it makes that section of road so much safer to use," Cowling said. "You have lanes that are nice and wide. In other sections of Mountain Road and two lanes of traffic, it can be extremely dangerous." 

Feedback from cyclists using the new bike lanes has been overwhelmingly positive, she said. 

She said she doesn't think a multi-use path as Butler proposed would be a safer option because of the number of intersections and driveways it would cross. She said cyclists using such a path would be harder for drivers making turns to see. 

City staff called the change along the section of Mountain Road a "road diet" and a response to speeding through the area. But Butler said despite the traffic lane changes and a speed limit reduction, cars still speed through the area. 

Similar changes to those on Mountain Road have also been done in previous years on Shediac Road, Salisbury Road and Killam Drive. But councillors said they were hearing concerns about the shared centre turning lane that goes around a curve and along a knoll. 

Although council voted last August to keep the bike lanes for a year to study the impact of the new configuration, Butler said he's yet to see any information from city staff on the issue.

Alcide Richard, Moncton's director of design and construction, said a study by consulting firm WSP is expected to be completed later this month with results provided to council in September or October.