What is frustrating to Heslinga and others is that those at the city level have elected pro-bike city councillors by a large margin. The provincial government surely knows that the decisions over streets and other municipal matters be made at the grassroots level where the outcomes are felt on the daily, not by, as Heslinga explains, a government made up primarily of rural politicians.<\/p>\n
![\"Edmonton\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/edmonton.jpeg\")
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Triple A bike infrastructure design in Edmonton<\/p>\n
\u201cBy and large, Edmontonians support where their council is going, and the province is just looking over here and saying, \u2018I\u2019m still going to step in,’\u201d Heslinga says. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating. The province says, \u2018Go elect your own people and decide how to design your streets,\u2019 and then suddenly someone says, \u2018Oh, I need to step in here.’\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen, the submissions will help the province identify what he described as the province\u2019s \u201cmost problematic\u201d bike lanes and could influence legislation expected this fall that would give Alberta greater authority to review or remove cycling infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The reporting portal is the latest move in Alberta\u2019s increasingly public debate over cycling infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the provincial government announced plans to introduce legislation that would expand its oversight of municipal bike lane projects. The province has also asked Calgary and Edmonton to provide detailed information about how individual bike lanes affect traffic, businesses, emergency response times and surrounding neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pattern that is repeating across the country with the pollutor commuter Ontario government<\/a> led by Premier Doug Ford similarly attacking bike lanes with anecdotes instead of facts. And, in Montreal, where newly elected mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is slowly picking away at one of North America\u2019s most bicycle friendly cities.<\/p>\n For Heslinga, it\u2019s all about distracting from other issues.<\/p>\n \u201cBike lanes come up, and it\u2019s a really easy way to make everyone start talking about something else,\u201d Heslinga explains. \u201cIt\u2019s the equivalent of throwing a dead cat on the table and saying, \u2018Now we have to talk about the dead cat.’\u201d<\/p>\n Several municipal leaders have argued that decisions about bike lanes should remain with cities rather than the provincial government.<\/p>\n