Bürgermeister von Calgary, Alberta Minister, um Fahrradwege als Drohung des Umzugs zu diskutieren

Some of the major issues:

>It was 10 years ago this month that Edmonton city staff returned a national traffic safety award when the councillors of the day voted to rip up a trio of bike lanes that played a small role in winning the prize.
>
>Councillors considered the lanes unsafe and underutilized. Edmonton has since built a flurry of new lanes to higher standards in busier areas.
>
>But the spectre of lane removals is again looming — this time over both of Alberta’s major cities.
>
>In recent months, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen has said he thinks Edmonton and Calgary have been going the wrong way when it comes to building bike infrastructure.
>
>He has said the province hasn’t ruled out stepping in.
>
>In April, Dreeshen called on Edmonton and Calgary to remove bike lanes from „major corridors,“ as he said they clash with provincial goals and investments in expanding roadway networks for vehicles.
>
>Dreeshen, in an April interview, said his eyes were set on four already-finished bike lanes in Edmonton, plus an additional project that was nearly complete. When it came to Calgary, he said he hadn’t done the same level of digging for examples.
>
>He traded brief letters with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek earlier this summer over the future of bike infrastructure in her city, and the two are set to meet Wednesday to discuss next steps.
>
>Just like the reasoning used in 2015 by Edmonton councillors, Dreeshen has said the lanes he’s concerned about aren’t being used enough to justify their cost and, in turn, are making commutes longer for drivers.
>
>Francisco Alaniz Uribe, a professor at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, said little has changed in the politics of bike lanes over the past 10 years.
>
>…
>
>“But the political part of it is that there’s a huge pushback on these changes for people that are accustomed and used to what is the status quo.“
>
>He said what’s usually missing in the political conversation around bike lanes is data.
>
>“They make streets safer, they allow for other aspects of urban planning to develop like making our cities more compact and building housing closer to employment centres, not having to spend so much money on parking, and even opening space for trees and green infrastructure,“ Alaniz Uribe said.
>
>“It is very difficult to talk about those in this kind of political conversation. Is it really the issue — bike lanes — or are we talking about more (of) a resistance to change?“
>
>…
>
>Dreeshen has said the province hasn’t ruled out stepping in to remove existing bike lanes, and that Alberta could follow Ontario in legislating that any new bike lane coming at the price of removing a vehicle lane would require provincial approval.
>
>Ontario’s law, passed last year, also gave it the power to order municipalities to remove bike lanes and reinstall traffic lanes. A Charter challenge has been launched against parts of the bill, and awaits a judicial ruling.

Once again, our major cities are being crippled by their respective provincial governments. Especially with local issues, cities should have the right and responsibility to determine ways forward that can benefit the communities there over the long term. Politicians, especially those from other levels of government, who are looking for issues to make political hay, are generally uninterested in the long-term consequences of their meddling. It’s long past time that our major cities are treated like the major governments that they are, rather than a mere creature of the province.

For those unfamiliar with the minister in this article, these are a few notable things about him:

[Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen resigns from his post following allegations of heavy drinking at work](https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/agriculture-minister-devin-dreeshen-resigns-from-his-post-following-allegations-of-heavy-drinking-at-work-at-the-alberta-legislature)

[The UCP brain trust can explain that MAGA cap: Devin Dreeshen’s here to help Canadians with Donald Trump! ](https://albertapolitics.ca/2018/07/the-ucp-brain-trust-can-explain-that-maga-cap-devin-dreeshens-here-to-help-canadians-with-donald-trump/)

– he spent 8 months in the USA helping elect trump in 2016

It is nice that the party of small government, that continuously complains about the feds putting their nose in our business, is getting involved where they shouldn’t.

More bike lanes mean more people will cycle to work, school, and shop, and fewer people will be reliant on fossil fuels to live their lives. That would be the antithesis of Alberta’s oil-centric politics.