Controversial plan to pause bike lane construction before council Tuesday

The motion, from Mayor Andy Fillmore, requests a pause on new bike lane development pending a staff report that identifies the impacts on traffic congestion.

District 15 Councillor, Billy Gillis, tells 95.7 NewsRadio he’s leaning toward supporting the mayor’s motion.

“The costs have ballooned out of control,” he said. “The lanes are important, I do support active transportation lanes, but at what cost? We’re getting out of control here for something that a small segment of the population uses.”

District 13 Councillor Nancy Hartling, meanwhile, says that if cost is a concern, delaying bike lane construction will only result in those costs increasing in the coming years.

“Are we going to do another expensive study? Again, nothing will get cheaper about this project in the future, so I don’t immediately understand why we are pausing,” she said.

Mayor Fillmore said Monday that he campaigned on a plan to improve traffic congestion and spend taxpayer money more wisely. He noted that project costs for bike lanes have also increased substantially, with the AAA bike network now expected to have a price tag of $93 million, nearly quadrupling from the original estimate.

That comment sparked backlash from residents on the social media platform who claimed that constant delays in rolling out the infrastructure have led to the increased costs.

“Of course, these things results don’t meet their targets. Because every time somebody brings up bike lanes, it’s study after study, delay after delay, pandering to incorrect information,” one user wrote.