Some nice news from Alberta about bike lanes. Especially at a time when so many places across Canada are dealing with lots of threats to kill or cancel present or future cycling infrastructural projects.

Bike lane supporters packed Edmonton City Hall on Wednesday. They were pushing back against a proposal that would have removed 14 planned routes from the city’s expanding cycling network. The hullabaloo has been going on for some time.

In fact, the Alberta government is still planning to do something that Ontario began, limiting municipalities’ power to create bike lanes. (More on that later.)

The infrastructure committee heard from dozens of cyclists, many of whom argued that Edmonton should continue building separated bike lanes rather than scale back the network.

“We need to push on. We need to expand the network. We need to do more, not less,” Everett Horner told the CBC.

Horner told councillors he has not owned a car since 2024 and uses his bike to get around Edmonton, including trips to Costco.

The Edmonton bike lane debacle

City council approved a $100-million bike network expansion in December 2022. But then, a big ole CUT TO: happened when city administration recommended dropping 14 routes from the plan ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, citing public opposition as well as proposed provincial legislation around bike lanes.

The committee ultimately rejected the recommendation after several hours of discussion and public presentations.

Among those speaking in favour of the network was 13-year-old Alex Bisbee, who said to the CBC that bike lanes on 79th and 50th streets would allow him to ride to his grandmother’s home without relying on his parents for a ride. He said public transit would take almost two hours and require three transfers.

The planned 79th Street bike lane also drew opposition. Antoher local, Kristen Constable told councillors she believes the project has affected interest in homes in her area and that residents were not adequately consulted.

Meanwhile, in Ontario

The positive outcome comes amid some not great news in Ontario. Aug. 14 brought a major setback for Toronto cyclists as the province’s Court of Appeal overturned a lower-court ruling and cleared the way for the removal of 19 km of protected bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue.

The lanes had been at the centre of a legal fight after Ontario passed legislation targeting their removal, with a lower court previously finding that taking them out could increase the risk to cyclists. The appeal court ruled that governments have the authority to decide how roads are organized, allowing Ontario to move ahead with the removals. Local cyclists are still fighting back–including a Critical Mass ride Friday night.

Still, great news from Edmonton and great news for cyclists.