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Edmonton using solar-powered trikes to water planters along downtown bike network

Edmonton is using two solar-powered watering trikes to water the 100 planters along Edmonton's downtown bike network. Global News

It’s described as an innovative and cost-effective solution to maintaining the greenery along Edmonton’s downtown bike network. The city has purchased two solar-powered watering trikes to water the approximately 100 planters along the downtown bike lanes.

“A bike in a bike lane makes a lot of sense to people,” said Peter Mueller, a parks operations co-ordinator with the City of Edmonton.

“And the environmental aspect, I think, is terrific. There’s no noise, there’s no exhaust. People really, I think, get on board with that sort of innovation.”

It’s been about a month since the first stretch of Edmonton’s new downtown bike network opened, after much anticipation.

The $7.5-million network offers cyclists more than 7.8 kilometres of protected bike lanes and shared-use paths.

READ MORE: New Edmonton downtown bike network will be change for motorists

The city purchased two electric assist bikes to do the job. They’ve been equipped with solar-powered water pumps. Each bike has two 70-litre tanks, capable of watering between 15 to 20 planters.

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Each bike with the pump system cost about $8,500.

“We did some cost analysis and we stayed away from trucks,” Mueller explained. “Because of the room involved, the interference with the bike grid and the road, the trucks aren’t a great solution. You’re either upsetting motorists or cyclists.

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“We use these bikes for two seasons and the trucks, for that same amount of time, would exceed the cost of the bikes. We think we’ll get quite a few years of service out of these things.”

Olga Messinis, project manager of the downtown bike network, said the city used a three-quarter ton truck to do the watering before the bikes were ready, which was not ideal.

“It really fit with the theme of the bike network itself being a sustainable mode of transportation and offering a sustainable tool to do some of the work within the bike grid,” she said.

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At the end of the summer, the planters will be loaded into a truck and hauled to the Muttart Conservatory for the winter.

Messinis said the bike network will be maintained through the winter under the city’s snow and ice policy.

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