THUNDER BAY — Cyclists interested in seeing a safer riding route through Thunder Bay's intercity area will gather in force at city hall on Monday.
The JustBikeTbay and Memorial Link cycling groups are organizing a mass ride in advance of the council meeting that evening, in an effort to persuade council to prioritize the construction of a new bridge between Carrick Street and Vickers Street over the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway.
The proposed crossing has been discussed by city officials since at least 2018.
In 2019, the city approached CN about using a portion of its nearby railway bridge, but the company declined, saying it wanted to retain the option of adding another set of tracks to the bridge in the future.
The three-year capital forecast that accompanied the city's 2024 budget includes $2.4 million for a new multi-use trail bridge.
A spokesperson for the city said that barring any changes to capital planning in the interim, that sum would be included in the proposed 2026 budget for council's approval.
The cycling lobby groups, however, want council to set aside money in the 2025 budget, saying the project is in the city's 2019 Transportation Master Plan but has been "languishing" there.
Spokesperson Ken Shields told Dougall Media "other priorities" - as defined by the city - seem to be the issue.
"The thing with the Active Transportation piece, it dovetails with many other priorities such as Net Zero – our carbon footprint for the city – giving people an opportunity to travel safely and quickly around town on bicycles instead of using motor vehicles, and also social justice issues such as the roads are not just for motor vehicles, they're public spaces that should be shared with all users."
Shields said the Vickers/Carrick bridge is a key piece to getting people off the sidewalks along Memorial Avenue until other infrastructure is built, including bike lanes along Memorial and along Main Street.
"We're going to push again for that bridge to be built in 2025 and not farther down the road."
Cyclists interested in joining the demonstration Monday are asked to meet at the Waverley Park band shelter prior to leaving for city hall at 5:30 p.m., or to meet up with the procession along Algoma Street, Memorial Avenue or May Street.
The group expects to be at city hall by 6:30 p.m.
