Sharing the road safely

City Council approved the safe passing bylaw in March 2019 and the bylaw came into effect on September 1, 2019.

When driving at 60km/h, or slower you must leave at least 1m of space when passing. When driving faster than 60km/h, you must leave at least 1.5m of space when passing. If safe to do so, you can cross a single solid yellow line in order to pass a person cycling.

Failure to leave the minimum safe passing distance may result in a $203 fine as per the bylaw. People who cycle are expected to follow the rules of the road by riding as close to the curb as is safe to do so. People driving are permitted to cross a single solid yellow line in order to pass a person cycling, if it is safe to do so. If it is not safe to pass while leaving the minimum amount of space, slow down and wait for an appropriate opportunity to pass.

If there is not currently a safe opportunity to pass a person cycling (e.g. if there is traffic in the adjacent or oncoming lane, if you are in a playground zone, or if a double solid yellow line or median prevents giving enough space), then you must slow down your vehicle and wait for an appropriate passing opportunity.

As per the bylaw, this only applies when there is the absence of any type of signage, like when a pathway transitions to an on-street bike lane. This does not give people who cycle permission to ignore posted stop signs on the roadway. All people who cycle must obey the rules of the road, including coming to a complete stop at a posted stop sign and adhering to all other posted signage.

An Idaho stop is a common term for a law that allows people cycling to treat stop signs as yield signs. Sometimes it also includes treating a red light as a stop sign. Idaho Stops are currently illegal under the Traffic Safety Act Rules of the Road Regulations from the Province of Alberta. Bicycles are considered vehicles in the Alberta Traffic Safety Act. As such, regulations around stop signs apply to people who cycle in the same way it does to people who drive any other type of vehicle on the road.

Allowing non-motorized personal mobility devices (skateboards, scooters, inline skaters, etc.) on bicycle infrastructure and in public spaces in the downtown core is a change introduced in 2019. It legalized behaviours that are commonly accepted and currently in practice.  The bylaw change in 2019 reduces the risk of citizens being ticketed for socially acceptable travel behavior and encourages more active travel options. This also allows users to transition more easily from a pathway to a roadway or cycle track.

As defined by the Traffic Safety Act, a mobility aid user is considered a pedestrian by provincial legislation and as such is not permitted to use the street for travel when there is a sidewalk available for pedestrian use. As all our cycle tracks are on roads that also have sidewalks, creating a bylaw to enable mobility aids to use the downtown cycle tracks would be in contradiction to the Traffic Safety Act and is, therefore, illegal.