Thoughts on Cyclists

Well, a few things need to change in Red Deer.

First, cyclists, there are 110kms of trails in the city (you can literally go from West to East and never cross a street), please use them first before streets if you can, but also respect the fact that pedestrians are using them too! We should pass a bylaw in this city that requires all cyclists to wear a helmet and have a working bell on their bicycle to warn pedestrians of their approach. We should mandate stores to install bells on all the bicycles they sell. If cars must have a working horn* then bicycles/scooters/etc sold in Red Deer should too. Too many times I've heard stories of pedestrians nearly being run down by cyclists on the north riverbank trail between Gaetz and Heritage Ranch bridge.

Second, the white lines really need to be repainted in our city, but of course we decided to spend $10M on rebuilding a bridge for the drug addicts instead (interesting fact: If The Mustard Seed was located down in Cannery Row with the rest of the services very few people would be walking back and forth on The Red Mile from Skid Row to 59th). Speaking of lines, the yellow line needs to be repainted on all the trails along the river to clearly define left from right for all users.

Third, I would like to see us incorporate more defined bike lanes where possible. We have a painted line, while other cities have a physical barrier between cars and bicycles. Obviously this wouldn't work where space is a premium but it could be utilized on wider streets. (obviously this Google pic is old -June 2024- but it demonstrates fairly accurately the state of our lines today). Other cities have actual barriers, solid colour painted lanes and better signage separating vehicles from bicycles. We don't even have decent line paintings or signage.
​
Fourth, legally, if you are traveling on the sidewalk and crossing a street on your bicycle you're required to dismount and walk across the street - not ride your bicycle on the pedestrian crosswalk. Obviously most people don't, and it doesn't justify a car crossing your path, but you should still be mindful of the laws when complaining. (note that failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is $776 fine and 4 demerit points).