HUB cyclists keep families in mind riding through Aldergrove
Published 8:00 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026
On a recent weekend, volunteers with the Langley committee of HUB Cycling set out on a 28-kilometre loop through Aldergrove, riding the same roads families use to reach schools, the recreation centre, or Aldergrove Regional Park.
The route rode through 240th and 272nd Streets, following Robertson Crescent to the north and 8th Avenue to the south.
For Langley HUB members John Evanochko and Ben Bobic, the ride was about understanding what it feels like for families to pedal together, or what a child may feel riding through the community, which still has gaps in the cycling network.
Those gaps matter most near schools, for example, routes connecting to Otter Elementary, Coghlan Fundamental, and D.W. Poppy Secondary.
For students hoping to bike, a missing shoulder or disappearing bike lane can mean being pushed directly into traffic.
“If a family were riding, sometimes they’re going to want to ride side by side,” said Bobic.
When bike routes end abruptly, he said, “they’re shot out onto the road. So it can be scary for families.”
In rural Aldergrove, many roads are posted at 60 km/h. At those speeds, drivers are required to leave 1.5 metres when passing cyclists.
“Very few of the roads have shoulders that are that wide,” explained Bobic.
Bobic said he has spent considerable effort pressing the Township to address safety concerns along 272 Street, including requesting that it be re-designated as an official Township bicycle route.
The corridor was included in the Township’s Ultimate Cycling Network approved in 2013. “But in recent years, the plan seems to have been left behind,” he said.
In September 2024, Bobic emailed the Township’s engineering department advocating for a safer bike route along 272 Street.
The email was sent during the ongoing Transportation and Mobility Strategy process, which aimed to gather recommendations and highlight safety issues as part of updates to the Township of Langley’s Master Transportation Plan.
Bobic argued that the northbound stretch between 24 and 28 Avenues has no shoulder and cannot meet the province’s 1.5-metre safe-passing requirement for roads posted at 60 km/h.
He also pointed to increased truck traffic near the Aldergrove Waste Transfer Station.
“This part of 272 Street may need further measures to separate bicycle and vehicle traffic, because this is direct route for children to be able to ride from Aldergrove to Aldergrove Regional Park,” he wrote.
Evanochko believes part of the solution is education — for both cyclists and motorists. Many drivers, he said, don’t realize they are allowed to cross a solid line to safely pass a vulnerable road user when it’s clear.
“The public needs to be made aware of what they’re okay to do as motorists.”
HUB’s local committee, one of 10 across Metro Vancouver, works with the Township of Langley and Langley City staff to push for safer infrastructure, but it also promotes practical education.
Through programs offered by its Vancouver-based central office, trained volunteers can teach Grade 5 and 6 students how to read traffic and ride assertively.
The challenge, Evanochko said, is funding.
There are lower-cost options. Bobic points to “bike buses,” where groups of children ride to school together with parent volunteers.
The model is growing in other municipalities and, he said, creates safety in numbers while building confidence for families.
For HUB’s volunteers, the goal is to make it normal for families to choose a bike for short trips — and safe enough that they don’t have to think twice.
“I glance in open garages and almost every garage has got at least one or two bikes hanging on the wall,” Evanochko said.
“It’s not that people don’t want to ride — they just feel uncomfortable.”