Because of the Canada Day flood in the city, those who are anticipating the arrival of a new bike path along Darlington Street will have to wait a bit longer.
Slated to be up and ready for use by bicyclists early this week, the city has issued an announcement stating there will be a delay until at least August 16. A plan for Gladstone has remained unchanged and will be up and running August 9.
In 2009 city council approved the City of Yorkton Cycling Network and more recently it approved the designation of two new bike pathways in the city. Street bikeways are to go ahead on both Darlington Street and Gladstone Avenue.
The bikeway on Gladstone will extend from Bradbrooke Drive to York Road and the Darlington route will go from Husky Road in the east, to Gladstone Avenue on the west.
In both instances it will mean driving lanes will be reduced to single lane traffic with the other lane designated a shared lane with bicycles. Also in both instances, due to narrow driving lanes in certain spots there will be only one driving lane with the other designated strictly for bikes.
The plan is to implement changes on July 13 in order to prevent confusion with the large volume of traffic anticipated during the Yorkton Exhibition.
After an expression of concern by some members of council that drivers will have a difficult time adapting to changes and that an extensive public awareness campaign will be in order, council voted in favor of the new bikeways.
Darcy McLeod, Director of Community Develop-ment, Parks and Recreation says the education component of the plan will include signage in advance of the launch, media releases, talks at local schools and educational materials. Also planned are various events and presentations aimed at educating motorists and cyclists about changes and how to safely utilize the bikeway.
