Mixed reaction to snow-free downtown cycle track

A commuter travels along the 7 St. S.W. cycle track

As the 7 St. S.W. cycle track faces its second winter, the City of Calgary’s decision to designate the 7 St. S.W. cycle track as Priority 1 for snow removal is being praised by cyclists and questioned by some motorists.

“Last winter we were cleaning it as a Priority 1 as well but we were using a contractor,” said Jessica Bell, spokesperson for City of Calgary Roads. “We found some efficiencies using city crews as opposed to a contracted crew just in the sense that we could do it simultaneously, it’s not a whole separate crew that has to come out. When they’re going down 7 St they can also do the cycle track.”

Bell says all marked on-street bike lanes in Calgary are cleared at a Priority 2 level, while the 7 St. cycle track, like all downtown roads, publicly owned sidewalks, and pedestrian thoroughfares (Stephen Ave), is considered a top priority.

“We do see some winter cyclists. It’s really just about the safety of Calgarians. We need to maintain the cycle track and the bike lanes just like we would maintain the roads. We don’t want any situations where a cyclist is skidding out or getting injured.”

Commuters on two wheels have high praise for the state of the 7 St. S.W. track and Calgary’s trails.

“The trails are in excellent condition, it seems like they prepare them every morning and there’s no issues with them at all,” said Roy Howell, a year round cyclist commuter. “It looks like the city is making an effort to improve cycling in the city.”

“It’s good all year round.”

Bike courier Stephen France frequently utilizes the snowless 7 St. track but he empathizes with motorists who face poor road conditions on neighbouring roads.

“It’s always a bone of contention,” said France. “This cycle track does get used by the cycle community because it goes straight down to the finger (Peace) bridge. The fact that the city doesn’t get the rest of the streets done as quickly, as cyclists, we’re just as mad as regular car drivers.”

“When it’s like this, all of a sudden we’re now in the lane. You’ve got the guys behind us who are in cars, who just need to get going, and there we are in front of them. We can only go so fast.”

Tom Martin, who has lived in Calgary, off and on, since the mid-1970s, questions the city’s commitment to cyclists to, what he perceives to be, the detriment of motorists and pedestrians.

“It’s not just downtown, this has been going on for a long time,” said Martin. “I used to walk along the river and the bike paths would all be plowed and ready to go but the walking paths are full of snow and slip, and trip, and whatnot.”

“Maybe a guy needs to buy a bike and give up on it.”

The City of Calgary's Cycle Track Pilot Project, which is scheduled to be constructed in Spring of 2015 and opened in July 2015. Jessica Bell says the city continues to work out the details on snow removal for the network which will include:

“We’re talking with the cycle track network people about what we’re going to do once the whole network opens and how the maintenance on that is going to look. We’re still working out those details.”

For additional information on snow removal and priority designation, visit City of Calgary Snow Information