The City of Ottawa proposes to encourage people to cycle this winter and is planning seven new bike routes. However, the city is not willing to pay to keep them clean this winter.
The city should be taking responsibility of the newly proposed bike paths and clean them as needed.
It is hypocritical to encourage cyclists to get out in the cold and be extra cautious on ice and slush, but then not to clear bike paths
Like a highway or road, people depend on a clear and safe path to get to work in the morning or to run errands.
An average of 5,000 cyclists are active in January and February, the peak of the winter season.
This is a significant drop from the 50, 000 that cycle in the other three seasons.
There are currently six bike paths that are regularly cleared in the winter.
Seven additional paths would expand to Rideau, along the O-Train line, and to Churchill. The cleaning of these paths is expected to cost $200, 000 which the city is not willing to pay.
There is an additional 16 kilometres of path to be cleared.
The city has two choices: clear the paths to make biking easier and pay, or lose cyclists to the slippery and icy paths and risk more cycling accidents.
Ottawa has a relatively active cycling community in all four seasons.
When the snow begins to accumulate and the slush spills over on the path, ice becomes less visible and cycling becomes more of a challenge.
Extending clearing on bike paths depends on the design of a certain bike path.
Some have pillars that divide the driving road from the cycling path that would be in the way in the clearing process.
Paths in Centretown and the Glebe are slated for clearing to extend into the bike lanes proposed in the east of the city.
This would make getting around much easier for cyclists by creating access to more routes and paths.
These considerations have been taken into account after two consecutive winters of bike paths not being consistently ploughed.
In the next city election in 2014, plans to find extra funds to clear these paths should be on the agenda to please the cycling community.
This is a step towards making these new paths more accessible to cyclists.
This winter season may not be too rough on winter routes so the city will see more cyclists on the paths.
With some luck, next year election will find funding to put this plan into action and sustain cycling in the wintertime.
Ottawa has received only some snow, and cyclists can still layer up for the cold.
When the new year begins, soon, the roads will fill with snow. Cyclists will then have to decide on a new means of getting around, or take their chances on possibly unplowed paths.
The city should be maintaining mapped bikes routes in the winter season to the best of their ability so it is on par with ploughed roads.
This way, cyclists can depend on existing paths to be cleared and expect the other routes to be on the same track soon.
Not soon enough