On Thursday morning, City of Edmonton crews were busy on Saskatchewan Drive, cleaning up a rogue bike lane that had appeared on the roadway overnight. On Twitter Thursday morning, an Edmonton man sent out a photo showing the unofficial bike lane on Saskatchewan Drive and 109 Street. By about 10 a.m. Thursday, crews were already on the scene cleaning up the duct tape and paint used to create the rogue two-way bike lane, complete with official-looking stencils, pylons and yellow duct tape to outline the lanes. One cyclist in the area spoke to CTV News, and said he would like to see the lanes become permanent. “Could be a good idea, maybe someone will catch that attention,” Spencer Balay said. “Someone at the City should think about doing that.” Another cyclist was glad to see it being cleaned up – she had used the lane that morning, and it raised safety concerns for her. “I was biking there, and I thought ok, it’s ok, but then all of a sudden that bus came off the High Level Bridge, and I’m biking towards the bridge thinking ‘Who has right of way here?’,” Doris Lutzer said. Crews worked throughout the morning cleaning up the lane – trying to use a pressure washer and wire brushes to remove the paint from the roadway. At last word, officials said a sandblaster would be used to remove the paint. The unofficial lane was put in on the south side of Saskatchewan Drive – on the north side of the roadway; a shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians is already in place on the north side of the road. With files from Jeremy Thompson
