Edmonton has come a long way over the years in how it considers and accommodates people who are walking, wheeling, and cycling around construction zones.

You can generally expect to see, at the least, temporary curb ramps provided to access sidewalks, and usually some consideration for a detour route.

This is a huge improvement over just a few years ago, and we are grateful for how far we’ve come.

A new City report, Active and Public Transportation: Safety, Accessibility and Equity, will be discussed at Urban Planning Committee on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

This report states:

The review of current policies and procedures has identified that they are sufficient to ensure safety, accessibility and equity for active and public transportation and therefore no changes are recommended at this time.

While a lot has improved thanks to the current policies, has your experience been that they are indeed sufficient and succeeding at ensuring accessibility?

Recently, the intervention of three community organizations and two councillors was required to ensure a 30 metre section of the 102 Ave bike route, one of the busiest in the city, was kept accessible during a summer-long (March to August) construction project. The fact that we were notified at all about the project, and given the opportunity to meet with EPCOR, is a positive result of some of the changes in procedures over the past several years. We did not have an opportunity for consultation ahead of time, but we also shouldn’t necessarily need to be consulted: recognizing the importance of active transportation routes and pathways should be built-in to everyday practice.

The 102 Avenue bike route is an example of a highly-travelled bike route, and so it attracted the attention of many advocates.

But less visible projects can still have major and unncessary impacts on people, especially those with mobility challenges. Detouring through the grass may seem minor for some people, but for someone with a broken ankle, or a walker, or a stroller, especially in winter, these barriers can be impassable. The closures of sidewalks and curb ramps, long or unsafe detours, construction signage blocking or narrowing sidewalks: these are tied to the “accessibility and equity” points in the report.

Thankfully, the City does have some policies in place. The Manual of Temporary Traffic Control, for instance, requires that:

• All bike detours must be reviewed and approved by Parks and Roads Services, prior to implementation, and

• Cyclists shall be detoured to routes that offer a similar level of comfort, safety and travel distance as the existing facility.

It also states:

• When developing temporary traffic control, pedestrians and cyclists should be prioritized wherever feasible.

The question is: are you seeing this followed on your streets?

If not, you can register to speak to the Urban Planning Committee on April 26, about agenda item “6.4 Active and Public Transportation - Safety, Accessibility and Equity”.

You can also write to your councillor about your experiences, good or bad! If you’ve had positive experiences with temporary closures, let them know what has worked well.