Temporary bike lanes for downtown commuters under consideration

The city may buildtemporary bike lanesalong102nd Avenueto help cyclists in the west end get downtownbefore permanent lanes areput in place.

Construction of new shared-use bike paths along parts of102nd Avenue will begin inJune,butseparatebike lanesbetween136th Street and111th Street, won't be completed until2018.

However its eastof 111th Street that critics say is the most crucial.

"Right nowit's extremely dangerous to ride downtown," said Conrad Nobert with Paths for People, an advocacy group for cyclist and pedestrian friendly infrastructure.

Some of the downtown segmentsof the route will be constructed along with the Valley Line of the LRT.

That means 99th Street to 102nd Street may not be finished until 2020, while there are no timelines at all for the leg between102ndand107th Streets.

"It could be 10 years, it could be 2024 easily," Nobert said. "Which is way too long."

His group has called for a temporary solution in the meantime.

"There's plenty of room on the road to put something that separates people on bikes from cars physically, that's also temporary," he said.

He said there are relatively inexpensive solutions, such as temporary concrete barriersthat would protect cyclists until the final infrastructure is installed.

Daniel Vriend, general supervisor with urban planning, said the city is taking the suggestion to heart.

"We're actively considering installing some temporary lanes for the interim to help cyclists get from Oliver into the downtown," Vriend said.

He said his department plans to work with the cycling community to determine what temporary lanes may look like and where they would be installed.

"It is an exciting opportunity to do have some cyclists facility that connects our new work in Oliver to the downtown before LRT work may come in the future," he said.

The city has planned pre-construction open houses for the 102nd Avenue and 83rdAvenue bike lanes, which are both scheduled to start construction this summer.

The city willpresent the final design plans and construction staging for the downtown and Strathconaroutes.