Make Salisbury Road safe for cyclists, Moncton man says
A resident who lives on the Salisbury Road in Moncton is concerned over a bike lane that ends abruptly, leaving cyclists on a narrow shoulder with gravel.
Henry Phillips says the route is popular with cyclists and he's worried someone could get hurt.
The bike lane is also on a blind hill.
- Star New Brunswick cyclist Ellen Watters dies from crash injuries
"It's a highway the size of a street, that's the problem," said Phillips. "You make a bicycle lane that goes four or five miles and then it stops on a hill to nothing, you're playing with people's lives."
Phillips said once a cyclist heading towards Salisbury leaves the bike lane, they encounter guardrails and an 80 km/h speed limit.
He added it's dangerous for motorists, attempting to go around a cyclist.
"Pretty scary, there's no place for a car to go when the bicycle is there because right behind you is another car doing 80 clicks."
Phillips said he's seen a few close calls, and doesn't want to see anything happen down the road.
"I have lots of young family in this neighbourhood and I don't want to go to their funeral or anyone else's," he said.
Needs to be fixed
"I'm not an engineer but I know it's wrong and it should be fixed by somebody who knows what they're doing."
The City of Moncton is looking into the issue and Stephane Thibodeau, the city's transportation coordinator, has made some recommendations.
"I can see the resident's concerns." said Thibodeau. "We can definitely add some signage, just to bring more caution to motorists."
Thibodeau said the city has no plans to change the speed limit.
"We're thinking of moving the bike lane ends sign further into town, probably I would say 20 or 30 metres," said Thibodeau. "Towards the end of that, show that there's a sign [to] share the road."
Thibodeau said the road goes from an urban stretch with sidewalks, curbs and bike lanes, to a rural road with a partial gravel shoulder and guardrails with little warning.
But, he said motorists and cyclists still have to share the road.
"Typically any street, it doesn't matter if it's an urban environment or a rural environment, vehicles still have to share that space with cyclists," he said.
