Sharing the road

Both bicyclists and motorists agree that courtesy and consideration are the keys to a happy relationship on city roads.

With the opening of the first dedicated bike lane on Court Street on Thursday, city officials encouraged residents to use pedal power. The bike lane attempts to keep riders safe on a designated path so motorists have less to worry.

Miriam Ketonen said she worked at a post office and planned to ride to work everyday. She said the new bike lanes opened a whole new world for her and allowed her easy access to the roads without worry too much about cars or trucks.

"Most drivers have been fine," Ketonen said. "I’m very cautious when I’m riding my bike and people are really cautious in return. I’m prepared to hold back and let the motorist do their turn or whatever."

As more drivers become aware of bicyclists through events such as the new bike lane celebration the safer it will be for drivers and cyclists, she said.

Jared Wallace, 16, spent most of his time riding his bike on country roads near the Needing Roadbouse. From his experience on city roads and on the highway, he said most motorists give bicyclists room to share the road.

"Drivers move over and give me space and they do it quite often," Jared said. "Most Thunder Bay drivers are considerate."

The designated bike lane stretches across from Court Street to Boulevard Lake. While Court Street will act as a learning curve for city planners, additional bike lanes are already in the works for.

Further bike lanes are planned for Walsh Street and Syndicate Avenue in the south core: a shared lane in the north side on Fassina Street and a section of John Street from the Expressway to Balmoral Street.

John Tavares, 55, said more bike lanes should be placed on heavily used roads, such as Memorial Avenue and Red River Road, to keep riders safe.

"We need cycling lanes," Tavares said. "For most cyclists you don’t want to go on the sidewalk because a child or someone could tart out and then you have no time to stop."

Josee Samterre, from Geraldton, ON, said she wished her city had bike lanes to make it easier to get around bicyclists. Often visiting the city, she said there were more bicyclists in Thunder Bay compared to Geraldton.

"When I encounter a bicyclists I slow down and try to go around them," Samterre said. "I think bicyclists on the road are ok. I’ve never had anyone cut in front of me. The few that I’ve seen have actually done turn signals."

However, Adam Baboolal and Shawn Levesque said bicyclists could be more cautious especially when riding around Confederation College and near the highway. When on the road, both Baboolal and Levesque say they go around bicyclists and slow down.

‘Sometimes it worries me that they aren’t as cautious as they could be," Baboolal said. "On the way to the college, off Waterloo Street, I find they take up half the road and it’s a problem."

Baboolal said the bike lane would help solve these issues.

"If Toronto could do it so could Thunder Bay," he said.

Adam Krupper, transportation coordinator for the city of Thunder Bay, said in any earlier interview that with the lanes being new, there is might be some confusion about how motorists and cyclists are to share the road.

"It is a major change to the road," Krupper said. "The road widths have been decreased a little bit. We have parking on one side and we’ve got a strange lane on the other side."

There is also no parking in the bike lanes; you can’t have your vehicle sit or temporarily stop there either.

With files from Jodi Lundmark