Garry Street bike lane moving too slow, Winnipeg Coun. Jenny Gerbasi says

The timeline for construction of the Garry Street two-way protected bike lane is disappointing, a cycling city councillor says.

Fort Rouge-East Fort GarryCoun. Jenny Gerbasi is an avid cyclist and takes two wheels to get to work at city hall most of the year.

Construction of the bike lane is expected to start in 2017, the citywebsite says, but Gerbasisaid she spoke with consultants involvedand they said it will not be completeuntil 2018.

"We are building one protected bike lane downtown in 2018. The City of Calgary just put in a whole downtown network in one season," she said. "I mean, it does have to be planned and worked out, but we are going really slowly with our downtown network."

Gerbasi said she was told construction will be planned around the Canada Summer Games. Work will be suspended during the Games to minimize noise and visual obstructions.

The City of Winnipeg unveiled the proposed design for the Garry Street three-metre-wide bike lane last week. Citizens are invited to provide feedback during a pop-up engagement event at The Forks on June 23 at 4 p.m. or online.

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Gerbasi said it's great that the city has committed to building the bike lane, but it's moving too slow.

"Our Active Transportation Strategy says that should be a high priority. We have to focus on commuters," she said. "With a large number of people downtown, who work downtown, if we have a really great downtown cycling network, it will pay off in terms of encouraging a lot more cyclists."

Gerbasi said there are many reasons to encourage bicycle commuters, including reducingtraffic congestion, creating a healthier and happier population, and helping economic development for businesses in the area.

There are almost 15,000 people who commute by bike in Winnipeg each day, an increase of 20 per cent since 2007, according to the Winnipeg Bike Weekwebsite.

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