Final design plans on the much-debated downtown cycle track will be released by the city on Wednesday evening.
Within a few short weeks, cyclists will have their own barricaded lanes on major downtown roads.
The network of lanes is an 18-month-long pilot project, and the city’s transportation department says the cost will fall within its $7 million dollar budget.
Construction starts next week.
“I think it has been a good compromise in terms of the number of streets,” said Brent Clark with Bike Calgary.
“You are opening up a lot of access for cyclists, but you are still keeping it to a limited number of roadways, and I think they will get a lot of use.”
The final plan is an effort to keep vehicle traffic flowing; cyclists going both directions will share one parking lane on 12 Ave. and along 5 St.
The city says extra parking spots have been found throughout the core to offset the loss.
Since 8 Ave. is a two-way street, two curbside cycling lanes will be added with one in each direction.
Further east when 8 Ave. becomes Stephen Avenue, cyclists will share the avenue with pedestrians during the day, and vehicles at night.
The city says it counted on average about 12,500 bike trips a day in and out of downtown last May, which is an all-time high.
When the cycle track opens on June 30, the city will be closely tracking what happens next.
“We’re going to look at overall satisfaction of the corridor,” said Tom Thivener, Bicycle Coordinator withe the City of Calgary.
“There will be a random telephone survey of Calgarians.”
The city will be unveil its final design plans at open houses starting next week.
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