Group urging city to better accommodate multi-modal transport

By KENDALL KING, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on February 23, 2022.

kking@medicinehatnews.com

Local cycling advocacy group, Bike Medicine Hat, is hoping city council will support investments in infrastructure and changes to policy in an effort to make the city more multi-modal transportation friendly.

“That shift to multi-modal transportation and more pedestrian-friendly infrastructure is something that’s been going on in Medicine Hat for a while,” Carter Gramlich, Bike Medicine Hat chair, told the News.

“There’s a lot of good reasons why the city should be supportive of getting more people to shift how they get around the city,” said Gramlich, who believes the city’s current road system is designed to only support automobile drivers. “Having the ability to move around the city safely (with) whatever mode of travel you choose – whether that’s biking or walking or scootering or using a mobility device – means a lot to people. Right now, if you decide to travel on certain roads, you’re taking a bit of a risk because there’s no safe infrastructure there (and) cars are travelling significantly faster (and are) a heavier mass so if there is a collision, it’s an unsafe circumstance.”

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Bike Medicine Hat provided counsellors with six recommendations to improve the existing multi-modal transportation system, including the adoption of a Vision Zero policy, which aims to alter potentially-unsafe infrastructure; reduction of the speed limit in residential areas; implementation of a minimum safe passing distance; creation of a designated multi-modal transportation network; creation of a multi-modal transportation plan and employment of a designated transportation co-ordinator with the city.

“We want to do two things,” said Gramlich. “We want to get more people to choose active transportation, including cycling and walking. We also want to reduce the number of conflicts and collisions which occur … In order to do that, we need to make it safe, but also attractive and convenient as well. If it’s cumbersome, difficult or unsafe, people are just going to continue to do what they’ve always done.

“We recognize not everybody will see the positive benefits … but, at this point, we’re not trying to do anything that’s groundbreaking. We’ve seen this shift happen in other cities and it’s been going on for a long time … Major municipalities and smaller municipalities across Canada are all doing this stuff. It’s time (Medicine Hat) follow suit.”

Gramlich and fellow Bike Medicine Hat members acknowledge it will take time for major changes to occur, but hope small changes could be completed by the end of the year, if city council agrees to adopt any of the recommendations.

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