CALGARY -- Photographer Matthew Hicks lives in Ramsay and rides his bike to and from work, generally using the 11th and 12th Street S.E. corridor connecting Ramsay and Inglewood.
The city has temporarily closed one lane of traffic to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians in an age of physical distancing.
But Hicks says drivers are making it unsafe.
“Someone had driven right through the lane and hit a number of signs and cones, and there was splintered wood and nails everywhere,” he said.
“They’ll hit cones and knock them into the lane. The lane will be blocked by the barriers that were supposed to be protecting the lane.”
The city has marked the lane with orange pylons but Hicks believes it's time to make it safer, with cement barriers.
“It’s just an incredibly important connection that we actually need to make safe for people,” he said.
It's caught the attention of one city councillor who says he’s been working on a plan to eventually make that stretch of a road a permanent multi-use path.
“The only connection for active modes, between Inglewood and Ramsay is 11 and 12 Street,” said Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra.
“From short to medium-term we want to take it from orange cones to something more permanent, (such as) the little concrete lip with the straws."
Hicks says drivers also stop into the lane to make deliveries or pull over.
He adds that he sometimes has to pull into traffic, just to get around.
“You’ll have people parking trucks in the lane and there’s of course utility work going on right behind us with little to no advanced signage,” he said.
Carra called that an enforcement issue and said cyclists should "absolutely" call 311.
Carra adds that once the Green Line is built there will be even more foot and cyclist traffic through the area, making the need for a permanent multi-use path more important.
