Cyclists, pedestrians share new bike lane behind MacEwan University

Majdi Sabi discovered something interesting about his walk to work when he moved to Edmonton from Tunisia recently.

Part of it takes place in the 105th Avenue bike lane behind MacEwan University.

"The sidewalk is not so good here. So I found it's good to walk here," he said, referring to the bike lane.

There are no sidewalks on either side of the road for most of the way between 109th Street and 116th Street.

The new bike lane has proved to be popular with pedestrians tired of walking on muddy paths or along the grass.

Bike lane a shared-use path

The bike lane is actually a shared-use path intended to be used by both cyclists and pedestrians, said Olga Messinis, project manager for the downtown bike network.

"This was an absolute interim measure where we saw a bit of a win in being able to provide a facility for both cyclists and pedestrians with the limited space that we had," Messinis said.

"That was to address the lack of sidewalks and understanding there is increased residential in the area in behind MacEwan."

The stretch of road doesn't have sidewalks because it used to be a rail corridor, Messinis said.

"A lot of the former properties that used to operate on either side of 105th Avenue had a light industrial use and there was ... a lot of heavy rail and spur line that was in this area," she said.

The city had considered installing sidewalks as part of the downtown bike network, but the cost proved to be beyond the budget, she added.

No safety concerns

Roman Belli has been staying near the bike lane for about a week and uses it to walk to MacEwan.

He said he hasn't had any safety problems while walking in the lane.

"When a bike comes by, it's been pretty easy to navigate the situation," Belli said.

Messinis said the city hasn't received any reports of safety concerns about mixing pedestrians with cyclists.

The city is looking for feedback from path users to see how comfortable people are using the bike lane, whether on bike or foot.

"We are still analyzing this and [getting] a clear understanding of how safe this facility is," Messinis said.

Pedestrians uncomfortable with walking in the bike lane won't have to do that forever, though.

Messinis said the city plans to add sidewalks when the neighbourhood is redeveloped.