May 14, 2026 - Calgary’s Mayor, Jeromy Farkas, wants the province to pump the brakes on any plans to rip up local bike lanes reports CBC. Meanwhile Edmonton’s Mayor, Andrew Knack, says he’d prefer that the province doesn’t move forward with anti-bike lane legislation but will collaborate on new rules for cycling infrastructure reports the Edmonton Journal.
This comes in response to Alberta Transportation Minister, Devin Dreeshen, confirming that the province plans to introduce a new bill this fall that would give it more oversight for the approval of future bike lanes, and the power to remove existing lanes. Dreeshen says some municipal decisions move in the opposite direction of the province’s attempts to reduce traffic congestion.
“Nobody is talking about this,” said Farkas who believes the bike lane debate is a “channel changer” away from other controversies the province currently faces such as pedestrian safety, which saw its highest number of pedestrian deaths in Calgary police records, dating back to 1996.
Knack said Edmonton has been making decisions based on evidence since the first bike lane was installed more than a decade ago. “I would prefer not to have any legislation, because I think we’ve been very thorough in how we’ve developed it,” said the Mayor noting that he’d met with Dreeshen who committed to making data-informed decisions.
Other observers say the potential bill is being used to distract people from the news around Alberta separation and the recent breach of the Alberta electors list. As with Ontario’s Bill 212 and Bill 60, the province is also being accused of overreach as “the local administration has the best understanding of the needs” in municipalities – read more here.
