Meryl Smith Lawton

Committed Cyclist | Molly Turnbull, one of the organizers of Edmonton’s Bikeology festival coming up in June, with her six-year-old twins. Turnbull rides her bike to work year-round.

It’s 8:30 a.m. on a sunny spring morning and I’m stuck in traffic waiting to cross the Quesnell Bridge. A flashing sign tells me there’s been an accident, which explains why I haven’t moved in the past half hour. While I watch drivers angle their vehicles in a futile attempt to extract themselves from the mess, it hits me: I really miss biking.

The long stretch of cars is an ugly sight, and it speaks to what I think all of us already know — there are too many vehicles on Edmonton roads.

Robert Park is a full-time bike mechanic and cycle commuter. He finds it ironic most people tell him they drive because it’s quicker, since he often ends up beating them when
he rides.

“The traffic is so bad, I actually outpace it,” he says about rush hour on the High Level Bridge. “I only go about 30 clicks.... I think it’s hilarious.”

While Park prefers the efficiency of biking over public transit — a trip from the Commonwealth Stadium to West Edmonton Mall takes 45 minutes by bike and 90 minutes by bus, he says — he’s also often frustrated with the piecemeal infrastructure in our city. “In Edmonton, we have this half-assed bike path system,” he says. “It’s great for what it is, but it’s too short.”

That’s the problem with cycle commuting in this city: some trips are feasible, while others just plain aren’t. For example, from my home near Southgate, I find riding to Whyte Avenue is pleasant if I cut through the community of Allendale; the roads aren’t used much by cars, the lanes are wide, and there are few lights that interrupt the trek. It’s also easy to carry on north by using the High Level Bridge and zigzagging through the more quiet streets of downtown. My bike trip times are almost on par with driving for these destinations (especially if parking is factored in).

But getting to South Edmonton Common is another story. No matter which road I take, I always end up sandwiched between semis and SUVs, many of which are just getting off Queen Elizabeth II Highway. I’m an experienced rider, but I definitely don’t feel safe with motorists coming off long trips at high speeds, and hoping they are going to see me when there’s no shoulder and I’m forced to share their lane.

Similarly, when I have to travel to the deep west end for work, it’s not practical to ride. There is no direct route and all the construction on the Quesnell forces me to take long detours. The commute takes at least an hour and a half in each direction, which just isn’t practical on a  daily basis.

The city’s updated bicycle transportation plan, which was presented to the Transportation and Public Works Committee back in March, acknowledges these issues. The report calls for $100 million over the next decade to be directed towards creating a citywide grid of multiuse trails and bike lanes that would link up with neighbourhood connector systems, adding 489 kilometres of bikeways to the existing network. Its comprehensive approach would also provide end-of-trip facilities for cycling, bike racks for all ETS buses, and improved signs along biking routes. The goal is to make all areas of the city bike-accessible, getting more timid riders on roads specifically designed for their use.

“One of the things the plan looks at is expanding our network out,” says Claire Ellick, a city engineer with the Office of Sustainable Transportation, “because Edmonton has grown a lot since we last updated our bike plan in 1992. Our new citywide network … will address reaching our bike routes out to newer parts of the city.”

While the plan calls for $35 million over the next three years, Ellick says only $17 million has been promised. And the bike plan must share that money with Edmonton’s sidewalk strategy, meaning funds will be divided among on-street bike routes, multi-use trails, sidewalks, and wheelchair-accessible curb ramps. (The bike and sidewalk plans will be presented to city council in August.)
Molly Turnbull, a mother of six-year-old twins who cycle-commutes year round, believes the bike plan is worth the investment. “It makes me a whole lot happier,” she says. “We’re built to move. It’s one of the best parts of my day. Even if it’s in traffic, it’s just a different pace of life. And when I get to work, people tell me I look really healthy and awake.”

Turnbull says biking also benefits the community at large. She believes planning a city for cyclists is a matter of vision: “As Los Angeles found out many decades ago, if you build just for cars, you get a very dangerous city — one where it’s frightening to walk not only because of the traffic, but because no one is on the street. You get terrible pollution. You get big, ugly freeways cutting through your cityscape everywhere.

“When you have more people on bikes and more people walking, you have a quieter, cleaner city. You have fewer parking problems. You know your neighbours. You have healthier people showing up for work.”

Back on the Quesnell during accident day, Turnbull’s ideas are food for thought. It’s a crisp, ride-perfect morning, but that notion is lost on us car commuters, stressed out by the delay. One determined motorist revs to the front of the queue by driving half on the shoulder, half on the grass, while the woman beside me drums her fingers nervously on the steering wheel. The scene is one of restless lethargy. I’ve been driving for two months, and I already
want out.