Bike network a waste: Browaty

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This article was published 12/12/2018 (1953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coun. Jeff Browaty says city hall needs to rethink its decision to build a permanent protected cycling network on city streets.

Browaty told council Thursday that it’s expensive to clear snow from the dedicated cycling paths in winter. He said the investment isn’t worthwhile because he believes few cyclists hit the streets during winter.

“The volume of bike users goes down (during the winter),” Browaty (North Kildonan) told reporters following the council meeting. “The separated barriers are really quite costly in terms of the snow removal.”

Browaty said he thinks it would be better for the city to invest in temporary, separated bike lanes, which would be erected in spring and removed before the snow falls.

“The dedicated bike lanes we’re producing, I don’t believe those are good candidates for year-round cyclists.”

Browaty made his comments while council considered the 2019 pedestrian and cycling plan, which would see the city spend $5.4 million next year to expand its cycling and pedestrian network.

Browaty supported the plan but favours temporary bike networks.

Mayor Brian Bowman and cycling advocates criticized Browaty’s view.

“We are a winter city and that requires snow clearing during times of the year when there is snow if we want to allow people that option,” Bowman said, adding he supports the city’s current policy.

Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, said the low ridership in winter is an outcome of the city’s network not being fully connected and the city’s failure to consistently clear the bike paths early and properly.

“Once we get a consistent clearing, I’m sure we’ll see more people using them,” Cohoe said. “When we create more destinations, more people will use them.”

Anders Swanson, the CEO of Winnipeg Trails Association, said city hall has done a poor job of ensuring bike paths are safe and usable during winter.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca