Future of bike lanes rests in council's hands as Calgary struggles with commuter culture

A few years ago, I stumbled out of a downtown nightclub during the Sled Island music festival to head home at a time so sensible that my younger self would have been horrified.

With my ears still ringing from the music, I rounded the corner onto Stephen Avenue and the view stopped me in my tracks. There were bikes, hundreds of them, parked in overflowing racks set up by organizers of the festival, spilling across the pedestrian mall wherever I looked.

As a long-time bicycle commuter in Calgary, I had grown accustomed to having my choice of prime bike parking because there were so few cyclists around. This, however, was different. I could barely find my bike amid the multitudes. I had never seen so many cyclists in Calgary at one place. It felt like a different city.

CREBNow's three-part series examining the news, community and culture of cycling in the city

With a proposed network of downtown cycle tracks unveiled, Calgary City Council will vote On April 28 to determine whether or not the $11.5 million pilot project will get the go ahead.

City Transportation said the 12-month pilot allows time to study how the new network affects people traveling in areas pegged for cycle tracks, will connect existing pathways so more people can utilize them and will provide the same function and safety as a permanent cycle track would.