[CliffFletcher]

People are vastly underestimating how costly and difficult it would be to fully twin even just the Glenmore pathway. Most of the north side is already twinned. The east end as well. The low-hanging fruit has been plucked. To do the rest the city would need to tear out hundreds of trees, and bring in heavy graders to reshape the hills on the north and south side of Weaselhead, where the path has steep, wooded slopes on either side. They’d have to fill in wetlands. The section north of the Rockyview would be impossible without tearing out the woods and re-grading the hill. It would be a massive undertaking, and the costs would be prohibitive.

You could say the same about most of Fish Creek. Forest, steep hills, picnic areas, the Creek itself, several bridges. The flats west of the ranch would be a good candidate for a dedicated bike lane. But the rest? Not feasible.

These are mixed-use paths. When you use them, you’re riding in traffic. It’s not that far different from driving on Elbow Drive. Wasn’t always like that, but here we are. People have to adapt.

I suppose the only thing worse than being a cyclist in Calgary would be living in pretty much any other city in North America and not having a 1000km pathway system in the first place.