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Walking and cycling will be the focus of transportation planning in the new year, says the man in charge of ensuring Calgary streets are safe and attractive for all road users.

With a pedestrian strategy slated to come before council in late 2015, Joe Olson, manager of the transportation department’s livable streets division, said 2015 will be the year of the pedestrian.

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Safety, barriers to walking, connections to transit, and sidewalk maintenance, including snow and ice control, have emerged as the early issues for pedestrians in the city.

“Our end goal is to create a document, not unlike the cycle strategy, that identifies a bunch of actions to improve a number of things for pedestrians,” Olson said.

“Everyone is a pedestrian at one point in their trip,” he noted.

Dale Calkins, the vice-president of advocacy group Bike Calgary, said he expects 2015 to be “a very exciting time” for both walking and cycling in the city.