Downtown Lethbridge businesses split on bike lanes

Downtown Lethbridge is about to enter its second full summer with bike lanes in play. The jury's still out on the impact they're having.

Downtown Lethbridge is about to enter its second full summer with bike lanes and some Lethbridge business owners can’t decide how they feel about that.

Last summer, downtown saw a noticeable increase in cyclists, when they made up to 3.6 percent of all traffic in the downtown.

That’s up from 1.3 per cent before the lanes were installed.

Many downtown businesses see increased bike traffic as a positive.

“We definitely see more bikes downtown because of it,” said Analog books co-owner, Penny Warris. “Last Saturday was a really busy day downtown, and we saw lots of people, choosing to bring their bikes instead of trying to find parking. So, so for sure, I feel like they definitely have an impact,”

While some businesses are in favour of bike lanes. others aren’t so sure.

City staff say they have been talking with frustrated business owners.

Concerns have been raised over the parking spots lost when the bike lanes were installed.

Accessibility for disabled customers--especially during winter -- was another major concern.

“Obviously, the people who use them, the bikers are loving it. They feel safer,” said Sarah Amies, executive director of the Downtown Lethbridge BRZ.

“There’s a delineation between them and traffic,” Amies added. “For other people, it’s taken away road space. It’s taken away parking spaces,”

The city expects to spend about $90,000 this year on the bike lanes.

About $80,000 of that will be used to keep bike lanes clear in winter.

“We received some emails from some business owners and we are responding to them as well,” said City of Lethbridge transportation engineering manager, Ahmed Ali. “There were some concerns about parking and we undertook a parking study twice last year and this year, and we continue to have, you know, availability of parking.”

It’s still too early to say whether a majority of businesses are in favour of or opposed to the bike lanes.

“The jury’s out really with respect to what the overall feeling is for my purposes,” said Amies. “Bike lanes are a sign of a progressive green city. And I think they had to be installed at some point.”