On Friday, August 26, 2016, join us at 5:30pm in front of Edmonton City Hall (Sir Winston Churchill Square) for a memorial ride in honour of Isaak Kornelsen. The ride will proceed slowly and in legal order to the Memorial Parklet for Isaak Kornelsen at 10151 82 Ave. This ride is both a celebration and remembrance of Isaak’s life, as well as a demonstration in support of dedicated, safe cycling infrastructure. The destination memorial will take the form of a parklet, a small urban park set up temporarily in two metered parking spaces. The parklet will be a one day public space on Whyte Ave in honour of Isaak Kornelsen.

Isaak’s life was tragically cut short on August 27, 2012, at the age of 21 while cycling on Whyte Avenue. Isaak was a Strathcona High School valedictorian, University of Alberta Philosophy student, and runner for both the Golden Bears and Edmonton Thunder. But most importantly, he was a sincere and loving individual who brightened the lives of everyone he met.

The parklet is designed to symbolize various aspects of Isaak's life, and the ideals he upheld. By portraying these ideals we aim to inspire people to think more deeply about the world they live in, and to leave with a renewed yearning to discover and experience what the world has to offer.

Creating a one-day parklet installation on Whyte Avenue will not solve unsafe cycling conditions on Edmonton's busy streets; however, it can raise awareness for the need to better balance all modes of transportation in Edmonton.

Join EBC and Harcourt House as we ride to different galleries in downtown Edmonton for an afternoon. Take in art, speak with curators and enjoy a few gallery tours.

Our schedule for Saturday, August 20:

• 2:00 - Nina Haggerty
• 2:55 - Borden Park
• 3:50 - CARFAC
• 4:25 - Harcourt House

This event is free. You are responsible for bringing your own safety gear, lock, equipment, and water. We will meet at Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts (9225 118 Ave).

Don't forget: the 2016 Community Garden Bicycle Tour is happening the morning of August 20 as well! You can participate in both!

Are you comfortable biking home at night through the river valley? Have you been the target of catcalls or other verbal harassment while riding to work? Do you worry about being run off the road or injured while running mundane errands? Tell us your stories of being the target of harassment, threats, or aggressive driving, while riding your bicycle. And tell us about any other safety concerns you have had. Many people don't realize the adversity faced in just trying to bike somewhere: help us paint a clearer picture. Very few people will intentionally endanger another person on the road, but how do those rare instances impact your desire to ride?

You may not have the opportunity to speak to Council at a committee meeting or, but if you tell us about it, we can make sure that Council hears your story.

Share your story with us

Share your story to help us advocate for better bike infrastructure in downtown Edmonton. Please submit your incident or concern by September 9, 2016.

Additionally, if you're willing to record a short video clip of yourself (around 1-2 minutes) telling your story, we will present a compilation to Council. Upload your video to your choice of service (e.g. YouTube, Dropbox, MegaFileUpload, Facebook) and e-mail the link to [email protected].

Stantec is currently conducting a technical study of a minimum grid of physically separated bike lanes in downtown Edmonton. They will present the report to City Council's Urban Planning Committee in September 2016. The report examines using inexpensive, temporary infrastructure, such as bollards and mobile concrete curbs, to build a network of protected bike lanes, similar to Calgary’s wildly successful downtown cycle track network.

We need dedicated bike routes to provide safe, equitable, and efficient transportation through Edmonton's core. Edmonton is the only major city in Canada without any dedicated bike infrastructure downtown.

Designating space for cyclists ensures that more people have safe transportation choices and reduces conflicts between users, such as the abhorrent recent incident of racism and road rage.

In the last two weeks, we have received nearly 60 reports of collisions or near-misses on the High Level Bridge.

In Monday's Mayor's Q & A on CBC Edmonton AM, Mayor Don Iveson was asked about safety issues on the High Level Bridge. He said, "If it becomes necessary...that we have to turn the east side into a proper sidewalk and keep the west side as the shared-use pathway that you can continue to ride, that's something that will be evaluated and decision will be made in due course."

A. It may come to that on High Level - especially on the east side -- due to the new suicide barriers causing traffic hazards

— Edmonton AM (@EdmAMCBC) July 11, 2016

We do not support making the pathways single-use or single-direction, for several reasons:

1. The City is trying to encourage more people to walk and bike. During rush hour, both sides of the High Level Bridge were congested even before the installation of the suicide barriers. Now, both sides are significantly reduced in width and capacity.

   

   The High Level Bridge is the busiest cycling route in the city, with 3000-4000 users daily, most of them on bike, sharing less than 5 metres of width between both sides of the bridge. As the city grows (in the next 25 years, downtown Edmonton’s employment will grow to 91,000) and more people walk or bike, and as more people are encouraged to ride through proper infrastructure, these numbers will just continue to grow. Further reducing the capacity of the bridge for all these users is self-defeating and directly opposes the City's own goals, visions, and efforts.

2. Most of the current conflicts can be resolved with courtesy and awareness for users: cyclists slowing down when passing, ringing bells, and yielding the right of way to pedestrians, with pedestrians staying to the right and single-file. This retains the flexibility for all users to access the bridge, and allows people to exercise discretion. Many of the conflicts can be reduced through education; those who are impervious to etiquette and education will also be unlikely to comply with new, unenforced rules, while the rest would be punished without benefit.

3. People walking their bikes across the path would further increase congestion, as more users would be bottlenecked on the bridge, and a person walking a bike is twice as wide as a mounted rider.

4. There are indisputable design problems with the suicide rails that increase the risk and severity of collision and injury. Both east and west sides are now below the City's own standards for minimum required widths. Addressing these problems by improving design is the correct solution: not further punishing pedestrians or cyclists because of bad design.

5. The intersection of Saskatchewan Drive and 109 St can take up to 3 minutes to cross from the east side to the west side, sometimes requiring waiting through 3 light cycles, which currently prioritize car traffic (including phases where cars are moving but no pedestrians are allowed to move in any direction). There are also 6 turning lanes at that intersection, which increases the risk to pedestrians and cyclists.

   The traverse at the north end at 97 Ave is even worse: a walking detour of 300m and again waiting for a minimum of two light cycles to cross the streets, including a free-flow turning lane.

   With access limited to one side of the bridge, many users would have to cross 109 St at both ends every time, adding 5-10 minutes just to get to the right side of the street. The narrowed pathways already deter people from walking and biking. Creating even more barriers would exacerbate the problem.

Walking your bike across the High Level Bridge adds 9 minutes to your trip compared to cycling at a moderate speed of 20km/hr.

In comparison, reducing the speed limit on Whyte Ave between 112 St and 75 St from 50 km/hr to 30 km/hr would make conditions for pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists much safer, while only adding 4 minutes of travel time (assuming free flowing traffic with no lights, a condition which never happens; in practice, the travel time change would be even less than 4 minutes):

@doniveson We all thought you were supposed to be good at math.#yegbike pic.twitter.com/lfK3huNswW

— chris - sᴉɹɥɔ (@newfangl3d) July 12, 2016

There are several solutions that can help improve safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists using the bridge, without punishing either:

Allan Bartman, City supervisor with Infrastructure/special projects, said of the suicide barriers, including the lack of consultation and the design's negative impact on safety and accessibility: "We take congestion and public concern seriously, and while narrowed sidewalks aren't preferable, we're happy with the project. The goal was to get supplemental railing up sooner than later, to deter suicide attempts, within the budget and timeline."

Hopefully the City can be consistent in this philosophy, and apply it to roadways as well: narrowing roadways to install protected bike lanes sooner rather than later, to prevent traffic deaths, even if it means a shorter consultation period or fewer on-street parking stalls.

People who ride bikes in Edmonton finally have something to celebrate, after years of looking with envy to cities like Minneapolis, which has a very similar climate to Edmonton, and Calgary, whose 1-year old downtown cycle track pilot has already counted over 770,000 trips. The City of Edmonton opened its first protected bike lane on Whyte Avenue today. The surprise move came quickly, through the use of flexible bollards and portable planters, both of which can be installed or removed overnight.

Not everyone was pleased, as some motorists expressed displeasure at the change.

"We take congestion and public concern seriously, and while narrowed driving lanes aren't preferable, we're happy with the project. The goal was to get protected bike lanes built sooner than later, to prevent traffic deaths, within the budget and timeline," City spokesperson Johanna Keevener said.

With the protected bike lanes, the roadway is the exact same width as before, but just allocated differently. Keevener said the $3 million retrofit, guided by budget and time constraint and carried out without consultation from motorists, is a pilot program to prevent cyclists from being killed and to better protect pedestrians.

A planned rethink of the road is projected in five to 10 years.

"We will assess the road at that time, and look at different types of bike lanes and possibly widened sidewalks. It’s a heavily-used street, with 3-4,000 pedestrians and cyclists travelling it daily. So we’ll certainly speak to the public and consult road users about it at that time," she said.

This post is satirical.

Though overnight street transformations are possible, and even Calgary's downtown cycle track network was constructed in just 6 months, Edmonton's first two protected bike lanes, approved in 2014, aren't scheduled for completion until 2018. The majority of the content of this article is from the City's explanation of narrowing the High Level Bridge pathways without any consultation with the users.

If the City were consistent in its commitment to preventing deaths, this post wouldn't be satire: it would be true.

Write to your Councillor and the Mayor's office to demand a central network of protected bike lanes (a "minimum grid" or better), like Calgary's, and improvements to the High Level Bridge to increase safety and capacity.

How Seville transformed itself into the cycling capital of southern Europe

“In Spain there’s been a lot of planning about cycling, but then the plans get put into a drawer,” Cebrián says. “So there was no opposition during the planning process, as everyone thought the same thing would happen. The opposition only started when the infrastructure was being built, and by then there was no way back.”

In fact, so surprised were some of Cebrián’s Seville council colleagues when the work did start that on the first day officials from the transport department, separate from his urban planning section, tried in vain to get the construction crews to halt.

They didn’t, and the demand for the network soon became clear. Even before lanes were finished some cyclists squeezed between fences to use them, an unlucky few crashing into barriers marking the end of completed sections while riding at night.

The net result is not Dutch or Danish levels of cycling, but nonetheless impressive. The average number of bikes used daily in the city rose from just over 6,000 (0.5%) to more than 70,000. The last audit found 6% of all trips were made by bike, rising to 9% for non-commuter journeys.

— Read the full story at The Guardian.

Have you witnessed any close calls or collisions on the High Level Bridge? Help us collect information to help advocate for improvements. While walking or cycling across the High Level Bridge:

• Have you witnessed or been involved in a near-miss or collision?
• With the bridge itself, or with other people?
• Have you been injured, or witnessed an injury?

We are collecting reports to gather safety statistics about the pathways on the bridge to help us advocate for improvements. Please fill out and share this survey.

Mul-kyeol Choi and her husband are travelling across Canada, but her bike was stolen just west of Edmonton on Sunday. The theft included their passports, money, laptop, and even clothes. The couple are now trying to raise some funds to continue their journey across the country. If you'd like to support them, you can help them get back on the road by contributing here. You can also read more about the theft.

Edmonton saw its first protected bike lanes yesterday. Sadly, they didn't even last till lunch. You can read CBC's story about the lanes, and their removal, here. One end of the vanishing bike lane connected to the High Level Bridge. Closures to the bridge have been extended for another month, until mid-July. The east path will re-open June 17, 2016 at 4pm. The west side will close again at 8am on June 20, 2016. EBC is working on recommendations to improve the condition of the narrowed paths. You can read more about the current situation in Elise Stolte's excellent story about it for the Edmonton Journal.

Finally, in the beginning of July until summer 2019, full trail closures will take place in the areas of Louise McKinney Riverfront Park and Henrietta Muir Edwards Park, including the Cloverdale footbridge. Pedestrians and cyclists on the north side must detour up Grierson Hill. Note that there is no accessible detour route for those who cannot take stairs, including those with strollers, wheelchairs, or child trailers. We are working towards having an accessible trail or ramp constructed to connect the lower shared-use path (leading to Rossdale) to Grierson Hill, as currently the only connection is via stairways. You can read more on the TransEd LRT website.

Join us for Bike to the Symphony 2016 this Saturday, June 4! We'll be leading a short ride from BikeWorks South to the Winspear Centre, where the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra performs pieces by Bruckner & Bruch. Alexander Prior conducts.

Tickets are only $19 for EBC members ($24 otherwise), plus service fees.

Full details of the event, including our pop-up bike workshop for 100 in 1 Day at the Winspear, a dinner special at Under the High Wheel, and after-party at the Mercer Tavern, are available on our website.

The Edmonton Bike Swap, a non-profit annual one day bike buy & sell, is happening today, Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 11415 168 Street NW. Please note the new location as the original venue of Northlands has become a reception centre for wildfire evacuees.

Bring your bike to sell it. Or come buy a bike if you don't have one! Or both.

Additionally, the Edmonton Bike Swap will be accepting gently used bicycles for a special collection for those affected by the Fort McMurray wildfiers. During the intake period (8am-2pm), technicians will perform mechanical checks and reconditioning of donated bikes, and the swap will accept donations to help support those repairs. A separate area will be available during the sales period (2:30pm-4pm) for residents from Fort McMurray with valid ID to pick up a FREE youth bike for their child.

All bikes in the swap should be able to be safely ridden away, so they will be checked by the swap's volunteer mechanics for safety.

For full details, please visit the Edmonton Bike Swap website.

The City of Edmonton is hosting a public open house tonight to provide input into Phase 2 of Envision 109, a project to redesign 109 Street, between the High Level Bridge and 61 Avenue. The more commercial section north of Whyte Ave has been identified as a future Main Street, similar to 104 St downtown. The last open house was held in January. View the presentation for background on the project.

You can provide your feedback in-person at tonight's meeting, as well as online after tonight at on the City's website. Some ideas you may wish to consider and to ask for:

• Improving the pedestrian and cyclist experience of the intersection of 109 St, Saskatchewan Dr, 88 Ave and Walterdale Hill. Counts from early May 2016 show between 3000-4000 pedestrians and cyclists using the west side of the High Level Bridge each day.
• Increasing safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Some of the intersections along 109 St see similar numbers of pedestrians and cyclists injured as on the most dangerous intersections of Whyte Ave.
• Including bike infrastructure along 109 St to maximize the vibrancy and safety of the street, as well as to provide direct connections between the High Level Bridge and the Bicycle Bottleneck and other sections of the city. At over 30m wide and currently with 7 lanes, there is enough space to vastly improve the pedestrian and cyclist experience without unduly restricting traffic flow.

The purpose of this public event is to provide a valuable input to Phase 2 of the project (Options Development) - The project team will present the major design considerations and guiding principles of the design of 109 Street to help participants achieve a better understanding of the multitude of factors influencing this project, and will sift through project objectives, design possibilities and constraints, in an attempt to come up with mutually agreeable design solutions that address the major project considerations in the best possible way, for both short and long term design options.

Date: Thursday, May 12, 2016 Location: St. Basil’s Cultural Centre Address: 10819 71 Avenue Time: 4:30-8pm Formal presentations at 5pm and 6:30pm

Watch this short video to learn how to steal a bike in under 20 seconds. And how to protect against having your bike stolen.

Register your bike or report it stolen at http://bikeindex.org

If your bike is stolen, you can file an online police report with the Edmonton Police Service.

For more info on bike security in Edmonton, visit http://edmontonbikes.ca/registry

Your best security is having better security than any nearby, comparable bikes. Don't rely on a padlock or cable lock: even expensive, thick cables are easy to cut with small tools, and padlocks are too small to withstand brute force.

Cables are convenient for securing wheels, but use a U-lock (also known as a D-lock) or similar heavy-duty lock to secure your bike, even at home, or you may find your bike stolen right out of your garage or "secure" parkade.

Replace quick-release skewers with locking or bolted clamps/skewers to make your components a little less convenient for thieves (though don't rely on that alone).

Thanks Conor for helping out! Conor is a volunteer with the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society. He teaches people to fix their bikes and helps them learn about cycling. He is not and never has been a bike thief.

Leaked planning documents from the City of Edmonton show plans for a downtown freeway loop cutting through much of downtown and the river valley. In the plans, extensive freeways and interchanges would align with and replace Mill Creek Ravine, 95 St, the land between 106 Ave and 107 Ave, 110 St through 113 St, River Valley Road, and MacKinnon Ravine. Further freeways connecting to the inner loop will extend through many other parts of the city. A freeway loop could bring tens of thousands of single-occupancy cars into the downtown core. Once there, those cars would idle in severe traffic jams, searching for free parking. An anonymous source within the City has reported that future plans would call for demolishing every second building in the downtown to build more surface parking lots, while demolishing the rest to widen roadways.

A 6-lane freeway will replace Mill Creek Ravine, removing the forest, trails, and swimming pool. A 10-lane freeway will cut along the 103 St alignment south through Strathcona, displacing most of the festivals and theatres located in Old Strathcona. Meanwhile, in addition to removing most of the river valley parks, Victoria golf course and park, the Muttart Conservatory and Gallagher Park (home of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival), the neighbourhoods of Rossdale, Cloverdale, McCauley, Alberta Ave, and many others will be demolished to make space for the freeway loop.

Downtown workers will be expected to arrive downtown on the freeway and search for a vacant parking stall. Once parked, they will use laptops and free wifi to work from the comfort of their private vehicles until 5pm, when the downtown core will be evacuated each weekday for pothole repairs and snow clearing. The downtown will be closed on weekends.

Though no one from the City was willing to comment on the record, several commuters applauded the plans.

"How many people use the river valley now? A couple dozen a day? There are more bugs than people. When they pave the river valley, thousands of cars will be able to drive back and forth through it. That's the kind of future city I want to live in," said commuter Rob Green.

Los Angeles, a city known for its extensive freeway system, has seen the benefits of freeways: at 64.4 hours per vehicle wasted in congestion each year (over two and a half days sitting in traffic jams), it leads the United States in congestion.

Another commuter, Rachael Harris, said, "I've never seen anyone in the river valley. It's dangerous down there. All those runners should be licensed and insured in case they cause an accident. The river valley is a waste of space and money. We should just remove it and build a freeway. Then everyone will benefit."

Freeways have been shown in numerous studies to exacerbate congestion and create environmental and economic deadzones in their path.

In contrast, Vancouver, consistently ranking as one of the most liveable cities in the world, has no freeway system and policies against road widening.

The cost of the freeway system is estimated to be $46 billion. Edmonton's share of provincial and federal gas taxes amounts to approximately $122 million each year; borrowing at two tenths of one percent interest, driver taxes are expected to fully pay for the freeway in 701.5 years, in the year 2718.

This post is a parody.

In case it has to be said. Though it does contain several factual statements. You can learn more about Edmonton's Metropolitan Edmonton Transportation Study 1970s freeway proposal on the Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP) podcast. Listen to episode 2, then listen to the other episodes too!