Photo Caption: Cyclists gather at the city hall Thursday afternoon before a right to
bike rally through the streets of Edmonton
Photo by Larry Wong, The Journal
September 25, 1998
With mayoral candidate Tooker Gomberg bringing up the rear, two dozen cyclists parade through Edmonton Thursday to remind motorists that two-wheelers deserve a place on the pavement too.
The ride becan at city hall, proceeded down Jasper ave to 109th Street, then went across the Hight Level Bridge and terminated in Old Strathcona’s Gazebo Park. At the end of the ride, Gomberg promised that if he were mayor, he would start the wheels turning to convert the rail deck of the High Level Bridge into a bike path. Bicycle commuters would then have their own route into the city core, he said.
"In the river valley, Edmonton has the best set of bicycle paths of any city in North America." Gomberg said. "Id like to see cyclists be able to more out of the river valley and onto community greenways. We can do it if we tirn out abandoned railway right-of-ways into linear parks."
Thursday’s "critical mass ride" is similar to those held regularly in American cities to pressure municipalities and motorists to make roads safer for cyclists, said rally organizer Trevor King.
One of the few bicycle lanes along the route would have taken the cyclists across the High Level Bridge on the same stretch of pavement used by pedestrians. Rally organizers instead led their cavalcade across the river in one of the bridge’s two vehicle lanes, forcing rush-hour traffic to use the sole remaining lane. "Sometimes you have to make a stink to make people pay attention," King Said.