What would it take for more Yellowknifers to ride their bicycles all year round?
That is a question posed by four architectural engineering students at the Łódź University of Technology in Poland in a theoretical study of Yellowknife’s cycling infrastructure.
On Thursday, students Mateusz Bajer, Kamila Berbeć, Adam Dębny and Tomasz Pietrzak presented their academic research project, the goal of which is to encourage more people to ride bikes into the winter as a sustainable alternative to driving a car.
The students looked to northern cities such as Oulu, Finland and Luleå, Sweden for inspiration.
To make cycling a more dependable mode of transportation in Yellowknife, the students looked at current barriers including climate factors such as wind exposure and poor surface conditions in the winter, as well as infrastructure deficits like a lack of connected routes and protected bike lanes.
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The students described the current routes as “fragmented,” saying the lack of connectivity makes it difficult for people to use their bikes as an everyday mode of transportation.
To tackle some of these issues, the students proposed a network of cycling routes that connect residential areas with schools and recreational facilities.
They also suggested the adoption of protected bike lanes, which would separate bike lines from traffic lanes with retention gardens and bike parking.
The retention gardens could also serve to manage rainwater in the summer and provide snow storage in the winter.
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The students proposed the installation of street lamps that could project bike lane markings on top of snow cover, allowing for tourists and other people unfamiliar with the area to delineate the cycling area from the pedestrian areas of a street.
To offer some shelter from Yellowknife’s harsh winters, the students proposed the construction of cabin-like structures at various points along the proposed cycling network to act as rest spots during longer rides.
The shelters could be solar powered, and offer a place to sit, a washroom and lockers for storage.
They could be used year-round as a basic amenities hub, they said.
The students said that as people who have never been to Yellowknife – or anywhere in North America – their research was limited by what they could accomplish remotely.
They added they’re now interested in visiting the city not just as future architectural engineers working on a design project, but as tourists.
