Bike lane widths worry councillor

An inconsistency in the size of bike lanes around Charlottetown, varying from very wide to very narrow is attracting concern of a city councillor and some cyclists.

CBC News found Susan O'Brian biking along Maple Avenue. The main north-south artery in the area is Brackley Point Road, which has a bike lane, but some sections of it are extremely narrow.

"I avoid that road because of that reason," said O'Brian.

"This one's nice and wide. I always take this road. Some roads I know they're narrow so I don't go on them at all."

Coun. Danny Redmond share's O'Brian's concern. He wonders if the city could be liable if an accident happens in a bike lane.

"It almost appears as if there's some inconsistency when we look at some of these streets now. Some are wide, some are really narrow. Is that the way the process is supposed to work?"

Many municipalities in Canada recommend a minimum bike lane width of 1.5 metres. Coun. Terry Bernard, chair of the city's public works committee, said most lanes in Charlottetown are that wide. The few areas that aren't will be eventually.

"For us that short distance is not a big deal, to move the curbing out, take some of the topsoil away, pave it, make the lane into 1.5 [metres]," said Bernard.

David Sims, president of Cycling PEI , is slow to criticize the city's efforts.

"I'm not going to complain at the moment because the truth is public works is going out of their way to create designated areas which separate the motor vehicles from the cyclists," said Sims.

At the same time, Sims is glad to see cyclists engaging with the city and pointing out areas of concern.

"There is the positive side in the sense that some provision has been made for cyclists, but clearly not enough. We'd like more," he said.

As far as liability issues for the city go, Bernard said as long as the city continues to make improvements to bike lanes, it shouldn't have problems.

For mobile device users:How is Charlottetown doing at creating bike lanes?