SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Cyclists who were looking forward to commuting on bike lanes before the onslaught of winter should temper their expectations.

A cyclist rides toward one of the concrete "bulbouts" on the newly installed bike lanes on 52 Avenue, which have yet to be completed. The large concrete curbs are intended to allow bike to safely merge with traffic, while preventing cars from turning right into cyclists' path. The bike lanes, were originally supposed to be completed by Sept. 15, however cold weather means NWT Construction will have to wait until next spring to finish the work. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo illustration

The city's highly-touted cycling route along 52 Avenue was originally scheduled to be completed by Sept. 15. While a section of the route between 52 Avenue between 56 and 51 Street has already been paved, sub-zero temperatures mean that construction crews have had to pack it in for the year.

"Construction was stopped due to inclement weather," stated Chris Greencorn, director of public works, in an email.

Although NWT Construction Ltd., which was awarded the contract to install the bike lanes earlier this summer, ripped up a section of road between 51 and 49 Street, it is now too cold to lay concrete and asphalt so it will remain unpaved for the winter, Greencorn said.

"The contractor tore it up and couldn't finish it," Greencorn wrote.

Rod Hilderbrandt, president of NWT Construction, said the reason work ended up getting delayed was because the city added the replacement of the water and sewer systems along 52 Avenue to the contract after it was sent out to tender. As a result Hildebrandt said the company had to order specific materials to complete that portion of the project, which did not get delivered until the end of August.

"We make every effort to meet the (city's) deadline but as they add scope and things change on site then the client has to recognize the schedule may be affected," he said.

While the delay may be frustrating, even more curious is whether the bike lanes will serve their intended purpose once they are finally completed. Several councillors, including two who voted in favour of the project, have been scratching their heads ever since they began being installed.

"I wouldn't even call it a bike lane anymore. I would call it a multi-use path because it's more for kids to use as a bike lane." said Coun. Rebecca Alty, who was one of three councillors to vote in favour of the bike lanes.

"I think adult cyclists that are comfortable riding with traffic are just going to ride in traffic."

Once completed the 52 Avenue bike lanes will stretch from 56 Street to 49 Street along 52 Avenue. Cyclists who use the bike lanes will be expected to share the 3.5 metre raised surface, which will eventually be divided by a painted line, with pedestrians. With the bike lanes being raised with a hard curb separating them from traffic, cars will be allowed to continue parking along 52 Avenue.

"It's not all for biking, it's not all for walking, it's not all for parking," said Coun. Bob Brooks. "When you're trying to do all these things at once, you end up with an interesting design."

Plans to go ahead with installing bike lanes on 52 Avenue were decided by the tie-breaking vote of Mayor Mark Heyck, with Alty, Brooks and Dan Wong supporting the bike lane and Niels Konge, Adrian Bell and Cory Vanthuyne voting against them.

Although Alty was originally in favour of the bike lanes, she pointed out the fact that the city narrowed the width of the path from 3.5 to 1.5 metres to accommodate several private properties that are encroaching on public land between 56 and 54 Street ended up changing the original plans for the project.

"The fact that there's those two streets that don't have the multi-use path anymore ... It will be interesting to see how the flow can work with that."

At each intersection cyclists will be expected to merge back with vehicular traffic, then rejoin the bike lane by riding up an asphalt ramp once they have crossed the road.

At several intersections closer to the downtown core, the curb on the corner juts out into the intended path of the bike lane, forcing cyclists to ride out on an angle to rejoin traffic. Jeff Humble, director of planning and development, said these "bulbouts," which are sometimes referred to as chokers, are intended to prevent cars from making a right turn by funneling traffic into a single lane. They also delineate the areas where cars can park along 52 Avenue. Humble added that angled ramps behind the bulbouts provide cyclists the opportunity to merge with traffic early on so that they can make a left-hand turn from the middle of the street.

"That is how a regular vehicle will do it - that's how I will do it when I am riding a bike," Humble said.

However, Humble pointed out that some cyclists don't feel comfortable merging into traffic and will "want to stop when they get to the intersection and walk their bike across."

"Either way there's the opportunity for them to look back and look if there's a vehicle coming and say 'I need to slow down or I'm going to pull into that left portion of the lane-way to make a turn'."

Although the bulbous curbs narrow the street, Humble said the width of the intersection is the same as it was before. He added that if cyclists want to continue to ride their bikes on the road, they are free to do so.

"We've heard from some cyclists who have said, 'I don't want to be a part of a bike lane, I want to be a part of vehicle traffic' and that's certainly their choice," he said.

"Some cyclists feel safe like that - I have no problem riding like that - but other cyclists don't. And this being a school zone or between schools was one of the reasons we put in a multi-purpose trail."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.