A group of Edmonton residents asked Alberta's government to stop bike lanes and traffic calming measures supported by the Edmonton city council. (www.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by dwazou@lemm.ee to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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“I see no need for it” said a local man named Tom Ogonoski.

“The only people riding bikes around here are the ones stealing your stuff in the middle of the night” he added.

“We want the Alberta government to interfere and protect us” said resident Kimberlee Dawn.

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[-] Kichae@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 day ago

Because they see bikes as things ridden by teens and the poor, and they hate both of those groups.

[-] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This. It is largely a class divide issue that is inflamed further by certain political groups. (Getting people to hate bike lanes makes for a great political distraction - see Ford in Ontario for a great example of this)

The street I live on connects to a larger stroad that recently underwent a renovation to add in (protected!!) bike lanes, which meant the speed for cars was dropped and the lanes got narrowed a smidge. Naturally, many drivers acted like they were being violated and like their life was literally ruined and they complained and complained and complained.

Now I'm a cyclist so I love those new protected lanes and they really do feel safer. But I do also drive and I have driven on that stroad before and after they made the changes... and it feels exactly the same. In fact, cyclists make basically no difference in my driving no matter where I am in the city except for when they have no dedicated lane and so they have to ride in the driving lanes. Funny that.

The amount of time drivers actually spend interacting with cyclists is miniscule. This is very much a non-issue.

[-] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 2 points 1 day ago

Not being argumentative but how is it not noticeable to cars if the speed limited got reduced ? I mean that's usually pretty noticeable unless it's a "traffic at walking pace" mess

[-] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago

Because most streets and roads here are way too wide and most people exceed the posted speed limit. Even after they made changes to the stroad people have continued to speed. There is basically no enforcement so the reduced speed limit hasn't really changed anything for drivers.

But even if they did follow the limit - it still wouldn't change much. A 10kph reduction hardly impacts arrival times.