An Ottawa city councillor took snow-clearing in a bike lane into his own hands Friday night, and says he wants to set an example for the City.
Kitchissippi Councillor Jeff Leiper personally shoveled the Armstrong Street and Wellington Street contra-flow bike lane and says it's not part of the city's winter maintained network.
"Every year they don't plow it and every year it fills in with snow that gets plowed into it," he tells CFRA's The Newsfeed. "The entrances to the lane get blocked by big piles of snow."
The councillor says there are similar problems with the bike lane on Mackenzie Avenue in front of the U.S. Embassy. He says he hopes the City moves to keep the bike networks clean year-round.
"My hope is that by putting in a little bit of elbow grease myself . . . we can convince the city to keep that lane clean by not plowing into the entrances."
Leiper says cyclists use the bike lanes year-round and he wants to see more funding toward keeping bike lanes cleared in next year's budget. He describes that as a "hard sell" under Mayor Jim Watson's commitment to keep annual tax increases at 2 per cent, and plans to put possible increases forward as part of this year's municipal election campaign.
"If we can keep these winter networks clear we can encourage more people to engage in safe winter cycling and that has benefits for us all," he says.