July 4, 2023 - (Calgary, AB) The City of Calgary’s decision to remove a downtown cycle track has sparked outrage and a petition to save it reports CBC News Calgary. Officials say the upgrades that were installed in 2021 were only temporary but residents say that any plans for removal weren’t clear from the outset, and to rip it out is backpedalling.
Project manager Dennis Hoffart said the city was open to permanent or temporary infrastructure and after taking the idea to the public, noted that feedback was just 50/50, and due to a time crunch, moved ahead with temporary infrastructure.
Project Calgary filed a freedom of information request, uncovering two documents, one from the city itself and another prepared by a local Transportation and Planning Engineering firm.
Apparently both documents suggest the cycle track was a success, recording a six-fold increase in the number of cyclists in the first year with minimal parkade impacts, but haven’t been made public.
Read the full report here.
