Following extensive discussion and many amendments to a multi-part motion, Edmonton City Council has voted to approve funding for the Bike Plan.

While billed as a “Bike Plan”, the plan is actually for a city-wide mobility network, which includes extensive shared pathways in appropriate contexts, such as along many of the arterials that comprise much of the district connector routes.

Councillors and the Mayor gave their final remarks before voting, which you can listen to in the videos above, preceded by questions from Mayor Sohi to Administration. You can also watch all of today’s meeting on the City’s live stream.

Be sure to send your thank you notes to council for supporting a healthy city!

We are looking forward to a safer, more effective, and better connected transportation system for everyone, whether we're driving, taking transit, walking or rolling.

We're building a healthier, more vibrant, affordable and sustainable city together.

The Motion

Council took a new approach to debating this budget, and worked on this as a multi-part motion (i.e. an ombibus). They variously debated and voted on each item individually, but in the larger context of tradeoffs and compromises between each. One such compromise was the reduction in funding for the High Level Line by $70 million. While disappointing, there is still opportunity in the future for the line to be built if more funding is found, as the design and rehabilitation work on the High Level Bridge will be done to allow for that. This compromise was made with the understanding that a city-wide investment would have more impact for the city as a whole. Similarly, the 100 St Pedestrian Bridge over McDougall Hill Road, connecting MacDonald Drive and the Funicular, has also been left unfunded.

Missing and Enhanced Sidewalk Connections, Chinatown infrastructure improvements, and mass transit improvements were also funded.

In the end, 17 separate main amendments were voted on as part of this main motion (and a number of amendments to the amendments!).

You can read about the motion here (from before the vote).

The motion is composed of amendments C 1 through C 17, with amendments to the amendments listed as subitems, e.g. C 1.10, which you can view in full below.

What it means

Council approved funding for the Bike Plan implementation. A small amount is allocated for 2023, followed by three years of higher spending. Most of the work in 2023 will be design and engagement, with some smaller, easier projects happening sooner.

They also changed the motion to take “Approach 3” (contrary to the text above which indicates Approach 1: this was an error that was noted).

“Approach 3” refers to the budget profile below. Originally asking for $201 million over 8 years (through the end of 2030) to complete the entire Bike Plan Implementation (including near-term priorities, neighbourhood routes, and the district connector routes), the $100 million it received today means that work will stop in 2026, only halfway through the full plan. Due to other budget projects also allocating funds until 2031, finding more money to continue progress after 2026 will be another struggle.

Approach 3 is described as:

This profile focuses on the planning, design, and construction for the bike network in the redeveloping area.

The work would include all aspects of planning, design, construction, communications, engagement, and other associated work for the expansion of the bike network through both independent projects and where opportunity allows for synergies with other capital funded work (such as roadway rehabilitation).

The profile also includes funding for other capital costs associated with supporting active transportation including pedestrian and bicycle wayfinding, and bike parking.

The profile generally envisions the installation of adaptable infrastructure solutions on bike routes, though permanent measures would be implemented where possible and if appropriate. The profile includes funding to supplement renewal projects where alignment exists.

This approach will allow for the completion of easier bike connections (those with limited options or trade offs) to be completed in an accelerated fashion by approximately 2026, while other options that require engagement or more extensive evaluation to examine benefits and trade offs will follow a more typical PDDM approach with a targeted compilation of 2030.

What’s Next

Celebrate. Send your thanks to your councillor. In 2019-2022, the budget for roads was $2.4 billion. Active transportation, which includes both sidewalks and bike infrastructure, received only $8.4 million funding in the budget to cover all four years (about one-third of one per cent of the roads budget). As a result, we saw several years of very limited change: there have been some good changes through some neighbourhood renewals, but our transportation infrastructure remains extremely disjointed.

Now with a plan and funding, we can look forward to a lot of good work ahead. We need to ensure that the right infrastructure is built, so that it will truly benefit the city. When the next budget cycle approaches, we will have strong successes to point to. The transportation system is a huge part of what our city is, but it’s only one part: there are still many other priorities and challenges, from transit to housing to parks and other services, that need to be funded and supported to ensure that our city thrives.

Building the Bike Plan will provide options for people to drive, take transit, walk and cycle, helping us move forward together by relieving traffic congestion, increasing mobility and opportunity. The result is a city that is more alive and livable, more productive, and more inclusive. A city that we love more and more.