City's plan to remove 3rd Avenue cycle track sparks petition to save it

Citizens and the City of Calgary are at odds about a downtown cycle track that's slated for removal. 

Officials say the Third Avenue South walking and wheeling upgrades installed in 2021 were only temporary, but a grassroots group petitioning to keep the protected lane argue that to rip it out is backpedalling. 

When engagement on the Third Avenue south upgrades began back in 2020, project manager Dennis Hoffart said the overarching goal was to maintain a protected connection east to west through downtown because of planned construction in the Eau Claire area — construction that would impact the city's popular river pathway where thousands cycle and walk through every day. 

The city was open to permanent or temporary infrastructure, Hoffart said. But after taking the idea to the public, he said, feedback was just 50/50. 

A time crunch to decide pushed the needle.

"We didn't believe there would be enough time to do full and proper engagement to have the full permanent infrastructure," Hoffart said. 

So, they moved ahead with temporary infrastructure. 

This was communicated on project pages, Hoffart said. He also spoke to CBC News when the designs were released, in 2021, calling the detour temporary. 

But that point seems lost in translation as a grassroots campaign with an online petition and support letters from nearby businesses launched Tuesday. 

Volunteer Peter Oliver said the city's plan to remove the cycle track wasn't clear from the engagement and project outset, and left many with the impression the infrastructure would stick around. 

"Right now all we can get from the city is that there's been a senior leadership decision to remove this important piece of infrastructure," Oliver said. 

WATCH | Why Calgary plans to remove 3rd Avenue cycle track

Calgary plans to remove 3rd Avenue cycle track

1 year ago

Duration 1:14

In response, a grassroots campaign with an online petition is pushing to save the protected bike lane.

Especially because Oliver said, the city has long-range plans that suggest this connector is a needed piece of cycling infrastructure. He said it's the only east-west connector that's located downtown, and gives those commuting another option for safe travel. 

"I think ripping out the third cycle track is completely counter to the city's downtown strategy, which is the whole, you know, effort and focus of the city council to restore vibrancy downtown," Oliver said. "It also flies in the face of the city council's number one priority, which is supposedly climate change." 

Project Calgary filed a freedom of information request, too, uncovering two documents, one from the city itself and another prepared by a local Transportation and Planning Engineering firm.

Both documents, Oliver said, suggest the cycle track was a success, but haven't been made public. 

Oliver said in the first year the city recorded a six-fold increase in the number of cyclists taking Third Avenue South with minimal parkade impacts.  

But those documents, Hoffart said, were only to evaluate the success of this detour project, even though they could be useful for future work on that stretch of road. The city is still preparing to report back to the community once the detour project is complete in September. 

"The detour was installed using a temporary design, using temporary materials, and as such, it's not intended to have a long-term durability, so we can see some bits and pieces starting to wear out," Hoffart said. 

He said plans and policies in place do identify Third Avenue South as a key connection as part of the city's pathway and bikeway plan. 

"The removal of the detour on Third Avenue does not impact, in any way, a future project to install permanent infrastructure on Third Avenue," Hoffart said. 

Oliver hopes a petition can sway city administrators, or councillors, to change course. The infrastructure is there already and has been in use, dismantling it without a second look, he adds, seems wrong. 

"Right now what they're saying is they're going to rip it out and, you know, maybe we'll talk about it later," Oliver said.