Thunder Bay wants people to get out on their bikes. But city infrastructure doesn't always make that easy

People hoping to bike to work in response to Thunder Bay'sActive Commute Challenge in Junemight face a few extra challenges beyond the physical exertion it takes to push those pedals up and down.

They might notice cars parked in bike lanes, garbage and recycling bags left for collection on bike paths, and a shortage of safe cycling infrastructure such as a proposed bridge over the Neebing McIntyre Floodway that has not yet been constructed.

CBC News went for a ride with Thunder Bay cycling advocate Ken Shields and documented some obstacles to safely traveling from the downtown north core to the downtown south core via the Intercity area.

The trip began on Court Street South, where the city has constructed a cycle track between Wilson and John Streets.

"[It's] probably close to a gold standard," Shields said of the track."It's away from traffic. It's raised from the vehicles the motor vehicles."

But Shields quickly spotted some obstacles along the route: bags of trash that had been left out by residents for the curbside collection scheduled that day.

"I think the waste management people should be telling them something about that in co-ordination with active transportation," Shields said.

Darrik Smith, themobility co-ordinatorwith the City of Thunder Baysaid he noticed the same problem while out for a ride recently, and he's open to launching an education campaign to discourage the practice.

"It's kind of one of those things that was in my thoughts to deal with," he said.

The next obstacle Shields notedwas the lack of cycling infrastructure connecting the track to other south-bound routes.

When it ends at John Street road, the bike route continues for a few more blocks as a paved shoulder, but ends at Fort William Road, according to the city's map of active transportation routes.

The next route south is on Winnipeg Avenue.

"So do we go home now?" Shields asked, laughing, before turning up Spofford Street, cutting across a parking lot, walking his bike across Memorial Avenue, and riding up Beverly Street to the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.

He then crossed Beverly to Winnipeg a fairly busy intersection that is not controlled by a traffic light where images of a cyclist painted on the road shoulder indicate its intended use as a bike route.

However, the presence of several parked cars made using the shoulder impossible.

Smith encouraged people who see vehicles parked in bike lanes to report them to the city's bylaw enforcement department, so they could take care of it.

At the end of Winnipeg, Shields followed a narrow path over a culvert to a dirt road leading to the Carrick dog park at the north end of Carrick Street.

"It hasn't got asphalt," Shields said. "It doesn't get plowed in the winter time. Google will send you this way12 months of the year, but it's basically impassable for four or five of them because they don't plow it."

He then cycled down Carrick Street noting its lack of paved shoulders to help protect cyclists from the traffic and arrived at the Neebing McIntyre Floodway, the site of a proposed bridge between Carrick and Vickers Streets.

"I didn't bring my swim trunks," he said, referring to the lack of acrossing over the river that's safe for pedestrians.

"The CN Rail bridge they don't want pedestrians and cyclists on it. Memorial Avenue has no structures for bikes. Balmoral Street you can't even see it from here. It's way up there. So basically this spot is key."

Building the bridge to facilitate north-south cycling traffic is important for addressing the global climate emergency, he said.

It's also an important step toward social justice because not everyone can afford to drive cars.

"It'll be awesome to finally build the bridge that's in the Active Transportation Master Plan," Shields said."The funding was approved this year for the design and next year the plan is to build it. So we need to keep it in [city councilors'] minds that this needs to be done, as illustrated today."

Building up infrastructure takes time

Despite the gaps in cycling infrastructure connecting Thunder Bay's downtown areas, Smith defended the city's performance on active transportation.

"I think it's important to recognize that the City of Thunder Bay hasn't really been in the active transportation game all that long and that we've really come a long way since we started," he said, pointing to the completion of theBalmoral Trail from Alloy to Beverly as a recentachievement.

"The things that we have as opportunities for improvements can stick out like a sore thumb sometimes, but I think it's important in the narrative to think also about the really good things that have been going on."

Smith noted that the creation of a so-called "express route" for bicycles along the route that Shields travelled has been identified as a priority in the city's Active Transportation Plan, but ultimately it's up to city councillors to approve the spending.

"What we budget is up to the approval of council during our budget cycles, and we do seek to build up on infrastructure every year."

The Active Commute Challenge kicks off June 1 and runs for the entire month of June.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit invites people to sign up onlineand track any commute that involves leaving their motor vehicle at home including commutes by public transit.