Alberta’s transportation minister has officially penned a letter to Calgary’s mayor to express concerns over building more bike lanes and request a meeting to discuss plans further.
The letter follows a social media post from Devin Dreeshen earlier this spring calling on both of Alberta’s major cities to reconsider cycle track projects.
In the letter, dated June 27 and obtained by Global News, Dreeshen said he wanted to share his concerns regarding the City of Calgary’s “approach to constructing bicycle lanes at the expense of road capacity.”
“As our urban populations continue to grow, we need to seriously consider on how to maintain adequate capacity for motor vehicle traffic flow for current and future traffic needs, not reducing capacity,” Dreeshen said in the letter.
“We are concerned with the impact to our provincial road network and its connectivity to the municipal roads.”
The minister also brought up concern with “future bike lanes and other lane-removal initiatives where taxpayer dollars are used to shrink rather than increase road capacity for vehicles.”
Dreeshen added that he welcomes the opportunity to meet with Gondek to discuss the issue further.
However, he didn’t mention any specific projects, unlike his spring letter to an Edmonton city councillor in which he called for the cancellation of a multi-year, nearly $96 million project to build bike lanes over a few dozen blocks on 132 Avenue on Edmonton’s north side.
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In an interview with Global News, Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek said the letter wasn’t unexpected and hopes to meet with the minister this summer to discuss how the city plans mobility projects.
“We would really need to sit down with the minister and understand what he’s looking for and I think the letter was a good first step,” Gondek said.
“With provincial roadways, they are big high traffic routes and so if he’s interested in how we’re planning roadways that lead up to those, I’m happy to chat.”
Global News has also obtained Gondek’s response to Dreeshen’s letter.
In a letter, dated July 2, she said traffic flow is one of the top concerns she hears from Calgarians.
“Calgary must find thoughtful ways to keep people moving — whether they’re commuting to work, heading out for dinner, or shopping at local businesses,” Gondek said in her letter. “It’s all vital to our shared economic prosperity.”
According to the City of Calgary, there are various bike lane projects in design and engagement phases, including in the southwest and the northeast parts of the city funded through $56 million approved by council in 2023.
“The thing that we try to do is listen to Calgarians and understand their movement patterns, whether they’re on two wheels, whether they’re walking or whether they’re in a vehicle, and we combine that with transit routes so that everybody has access to get around the city,” Gondek told Global News.
However, Dreeshen’s letter is being met with disappointment by cycle advocacy group Bike Calgary.
“We’re a little disappointed of course that he’s continuing to make these allegations that bike lanes are the bane of our existence,” said Bike Calgary’s Doug Clark.
“There’s so many examples where cities have tried to add more lanes accommodate more private vehicles and it just doesn’t work, and we don’t need to repeat those same mistakes.”
But Clark said he welcomes the proposed meeting between Dreeshen and Gondek, in the hopes it drives collaboration on alternate modes of transportation.
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