Email I sent to the design team:
Hello,
As a supporter of quality bike infrastructure in Edmonton and the various benefits it brings, I'd like to express my concern about a specific but important aspect of the 101 Avenue Streetscape Redesign, the 101 Avenue/Wayne Gretzky Drive intersection.
The design proposed is not conducive to the goals of creating a safe and inclusive bike network, and I believe it in fact works directly against these goals by creating confusion in between bikes and cars and putting cyclists in potential danger by being unprotected from vehicles on both sides (as shown in the design cross-section).
As a frequent cyclist myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable using this infrastructure and I am an 18 year-old male, so I definitely cannot see how a young family or elderly couple, for example, would even attempt to use these lanes at this intersection.
If I could suggest anything to make this design better, it would be to separate the lanes from the road using a raised curb or blockades, while limiting the intersections with the turning lanes as much as possible and adding protections like raised but drivable inclines (maybe even shortening the turning lanes even further). The bike lanes should have dedicated lights as they cross 75th street as well.
I believe that the main portion of the Streetscape along 101 Ave is at an adequate level, and it is a large improvement from what was there before, however key sections such as the one above can decide what gauges the success and failure of the design, being usage.
Thank you