Road safety is a never ending battle that many cyclists face in Bridge City.
Mckenzie Parsons knows all about close calls. Last week he was almost hit by a truck near his home.
“I was coming through and there was a yield sign, just coming back from work, and a big truck went right through the yield. And it would have been three seconds later it would have been bad.”
With cycling growing in popularity in Lethbridge, Parsons feels that our roads could be made more accessible for bikers. He feels the city could implement more lanes for cyclists.
“To give cars a larger awareness of us riding around, especially downtown,” he said.
There are cycling dedicated routes, such as on 13 Street, and pathways throughout the city that are bike friendly. But is this enough?
“We are trying to make it more cycle friendly, safe city. At this time we have very few cycling lanes in the city, but we are working on improving that situation further,” said Ahmed Ali, with the city’s transportation department.
The city is aiming to create more bike lanes, and is currently working on a new project that will focus on where commuter cyclists ride the most.
“The cycling groups have asked us to do a more in-depth study to see the real cycling demand – where it is, what kind of corridors we have and develop cycling lanes exclusively cycling facilities. And hopefully in a few more years we will see more cycling lanes.”
Parsons says having more lanes is a must. However, he feels there’s still a lack of awareness when it comes to the relationship between the car and the biker.
“It’s just that there’s not a huge collective awareness about it. There are a lot of cars that are still kind of confused. I’m expecting them to go around me. I’m expecting them to treat me like a car.”
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