Bike Edmonton Calls out Provincial Meddling in 132nd Ave Bike Lane Project

Bike Edmonton Media Statement

Edmonton, 17 April 2025

For Immediate Release

Minister for Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen MLA should stick to his knitting and butt out of municipal affairs. Just because he isn’t up for election this year doesn’t mean he and the UCP should waste precious taxpayer time and money parachuting themselves into local issues.

Today, in an open letter to Councillor Karen Principe on X, Devin Dreeshen claims “we need to seriously consider how to maintain and increase capacity for motor vehicle traffic flow for current and future traffic needs”. He did so without citing any capacity issues on 132 Ave whatsoever. That is because the Minister has no evidence to support his claims.

Unfortunately for him, the emperor has no clothes: with the province, city and federal government are already spending over $1 billion dollars on the Yellowhead Trail Freeway conversion. There is already a high-capacity roadway, now getting even more capacity, a mere 350 metres to the south of 132 Ave. The Minister does not need to “increase capacity for motor vehicle traffic flow” in this area. Instead, he needs a map to help him find his way.

The Province's own Major Project website acknowledges that City of Edmonton’s 132 Ave Renewal "will reconstruct [and] rehabilitate collector roads, replace street lights, sidewalks, curbs and gutters and adds missing sidewalk links, where possible”. The City has spent years consulting with affected communities, including St. Vladimir Catholic Elementary School and Daycare and Delwood School to mitigate construction impacts.

Just as with banning photo radar, Devin Dreeshen now says he wants to wrestle control of these critical traffic safety initiatives without contributing any money to them. Sorry Minister, there are no free rides when it comes to traffic safety.

Edmontonians will not fall for this trick, nor will we accept any provincial interference in city affairs in this double election year. 

Bike Edmonton stands with local residents, the planners, engineers, designers and advocates who have been working tirelessly to make our streets safer for Edmontonians. Complete Streets save lives, not property taxes.   

Quotes attributable to Bike Edmonton President Keith Heslinga:

‘Earlier this month Bike Edmonton surveyed Edmontonians and found they overwhelmingly would prefer continuing with the bike lane implementation instead of reallocating these taxes. The results are clear: 81 per cent of survey respondents are not interested in cancelling or delaying the Bike Plan to save a couple of bucks on property taxes’  

‘Karen Principe and her fellow councillors were elected to decide on the priorities of the City of Edmonton’s capital construction. She is certainly entitled to be upset that council did not agree with her on that priority but to bring in the MLA from Sylvan Lake to change our local decision making is insulting to Edmontonians. Bike Edmonton looks forward to working with Ms Principe and whomever is the new councilor after the next election as we are with all councilors to build a city that we can all be proud of.’

‘Grandstanding on 132 Ave risks more serious injuries and deaths on our streets. Safer streets advocates will not accept the lives of our children and most vulnerable being put at risk. The Minister needs to leave local streets in local hands.'

Media contact: president@bikeedmonton.ca

We're hiring bike builders!

We're hiring bike builders!

Want a flexible, independent job doing something good for the world? Do you enjoy using your bike repair skills to return wheeled beauties to their rightful glory?

We’re looking for experienced bike mechanics to build up donated bikes. You’d start as soon as possible, and the position will run until the end of the summer with the possibility of extension. Perks include flexible hours, working on a huge range of bikes, and health benefits for anyone working 25 hours a week and up.

Bike Edmonton's Annual General Meeting

Bike Edmonton's Annual General Meeting

It has been a year of transition for Bike Edmonton, and we are so grateful for the support of all our members. Last winter you responded to our appeal, and raised more than $30,000 to help keep Bike Edmonton alive and well.

Now, we invite all members to our Annual General Meeting on Sunday, November 3rd, 1pm at the Strathcona Community League's upper hall (10139 87 Ave), where we will discuss the year that was, share our 2024-2025 budget for your consideration, and elect new Board members.

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Our South Shop is Closing

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Our South Shop is Closing

Our South Community Bike Workshop will be closing permanently at the end of the day on Sunday June 16th. The shop was consistently bustling, but the building changed hands last year and its new owners were unwilling to sign a new lease without a substantial rent increase. We hoped to relocate nearby, but a search found no suitable affordable spaces. This came during a challenging financial time for Bike Edmonton, and after much discussion and analysis, our Board of Directors concluded that we must consolidate operations out of our downtown shop. 

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Winter Cycling Congress Member Discount

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Image Credit: wintercityedmonton.ca/

This year’s Winter Cycling Congress is happening right here in Edmonton! It’s a gathering of passionate winter cyclists working towards a world where cycling year round is understood as normal and practical. The Congress runs Thursday to Saturday February 22nd to 24th and features a schedule packed with talks and some great keynote speakers. And the best part is Bike Edmonton members get an excellent discount (20% off the non-profit rate) on tickets. You can attend the whole conference for just $180, compared to the regular rate of nearly $600. Ticket sales close February 16th so get yours today!

Members can get a discounted ticket by:

  1. look up your membership by searching your email address here

  2. find the discount code in the Member Discounts section

  3. visit the conference registration page here, click register, and then enter the code in the promo box at the top

  4. to attend the whole conference, select the non-profit rate option and buy your ticket!

And if you don’t have a Bike Edmonton membership already, you can always buy one at our shop or online.

Join us for our Bike 101 course this Monday

Want to give your winter bike a tune-up or get your summer ride ready for spring? Join us for our popular Bike 101: Hands-on Intro to Bike Repair to learn how to do the work yourself! The course is running Monday, November 6th from 6pm-9pm at our Downtown Shop. This is a great place to start if you are new to bike repair.

For more information and to register, visit http://apps.bikeedmonton.ca

We have spots left in our next two bike repair courses!

Join us for our popular Bike 101: Hands-on Intro to Bike Repair this upcoming Monday, June 12th, from 6pm-9pm. This is a great place to start if you are new to bike repair and want to learn how to maintain your bike.

If you are already familiar with the basics, then attend our Bike 201: Headsets & Bottom Brackets course on Saturday, June 17th, from 9am to 12pm. Here you will uncover the mysteries of the headset and bottom bracket as you get hands-on experience learning about the different types along with preventative maintenance and how to fix common problems.

For more information and to register, visit http://apps.bikeedmonton.ca.