The City of Calgary is launching a pilot project later this week in an effort to slow down traffic passing through the southeast community of Riverbend.
Starting Friday through to Sept. 12, bike lanes will be set up to run north and south on 18 Street S.E. between Quarry Park Blvd and Rivervalley Drive S.E.
As a result, 18 Street S.E. will be reduced to a single lane.
According to Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner, the pilot is in response to concerns about traffic and safety in the community.
“The whole idea is that the adaptive bike lane or the mobility lane reduces that road width and, sort of by design constraint, enforces the speed limit,” Penner told Global News.
Concerns over speed and traffic safety on 18 Street S.E. are shared by Beverly Ashley, whose family recently moved to the neighbourhood.
She described the community as quiet and safe with friendly neighbours, but said the vehicle traffic on the street next to her home is an issue.
“That’s the only problem with the neighbourhood, I would say, is 18th Street,” Ashley said.
“People drive way too fast, they don’t pay attention and they don’t consider pedestrians or bicyclists at all.”
Ashley’s son was hit by a car in the crosswalk while trying to cross the busy roadway on his bike earlier this summer. He still wears an air cast on his left leg.
“It makes me happy to see the city acknowledges there is an issue and that they’re trying to do something,” Ashley said.
According to city officials, the goal behind the pilot project is also to redirect traffic to 24th Street as an alternative for vehicle commuters travelling through the community.
The pilot did come as a surprise to some cyclists who live in the area, who said a lot of the cyclist traffic is on the Carburn Park pathway.
“I do like the idea because people on the pathway ride really fast, and having little kids, it’s nice to know that maybe that traffic would be diverted,” Kristy Lange told Global News. “We don’t see a lot of bike commuters on the roads, so we were just a little confused as to why here.”
Longtime Riverbend resident Bruce Laprise told Global News he didn’t think a bike lane would make a difference to the traffic, but did raise concerns over consultation with the community.
“The big thing I’m concerned about is why the city is piloting a project without really communicating with the community itself?” Laprise said.
According to the city, officials worked with the Riverbend Community Association and several constituents in the area to determine the community’s concerns.
The Riverbend Community Association declined to provide a comment to Global News.
Other people who live in the community had mixed reviews of the idea.
“The amount of traffic you see right now, very heavy flow, I’m concerned for the safety of bike riders,” Riverbend resident James Gibb told Global News. “I’m concerned for the flow of traffic in the area knowing that it comes off of Glenmore and comes off of Deerfoot.”
The City of Calgary said it is examining options for “permanent traffic calming measures” on 18 Street S.E. during the next four-year budget cycle.
According to Penner, the pilot project is to “have a conversation” about the future of community streets in the city.
“I think what we’re really just asking for is for people to try it, to not have any preconceived notions on whether it’s going to be good or bad for the neighborhood,” Penner said.
“(We’re) trying to understand what is the future of our commuter roads in our city; so whether it’s here in Riverbend or whether this gets trialed and adopted in another community.”
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