Edmonton could finally see a breakthrough in the bike lane stalemate with a business-led pitch to build a trial network downtown.



The engineering and technology company Stantec wants options for its 1,700 employees moving into a downtown tower in 2018. It has volunteered to partner with the city on a $20,000 study to create a minimum bike grid downtown, similar to Calgary’s.



The new grid could go in with temporary structures, to shorten construction timelines and let Edmonton residents weigh in on the design before permanent lines or barriers get installed.



“It’s not a bad way to trial bike lanes,” said Coun. Scott McKeen, who is scheduled to introduce a motion to fund a new study at council Tuesday. Stantec and the city would each contribute $10,000 for a high-level study scheduled to come back in September.



“We can offer a technical analysis,” said Keith Shillington, senior vice-president for Stantec. He bikes 30 minutes from the west end every day but said many employees are nervous about biking to their new tower downtown.



It’s expected to open in 2018 near the arena.



“There’s a bit of a gap here,” he said. “We want to see that all modes of transportation are supported.”



Calgary introduced a 5.6-kilometre grid of separated cycle track downtown in 2015. The $7.5-million project was one of the years’ most contentious, with more than 20 complaints a day from motorists during the two-month construction.



But their status as a temporary pilot project meant the design could be tweaked, some parking reinstated and signal lights adjusted in response to complaints. The city installed bike counters to let members of the public see the number of people using the lanes in real time and quickly exceeded its targets for increasing the numbers of women riding downtown.



After a year, the temporary lanes won enough support to become permanent.



It’s a much different approach from Edmonton’s. This city approved a 500-kilometre grid across the city as part of its 2009 transportation master plan, but tied their installation to road rehabilitation.



The lanes built were scattered across the city, often outside high traffic location for bikes, and not connected in a grid. They didn’t have the community support necessary to succeed and even some cycling enthusiasts on council voted for their removal. Four sets of lanes have been pulled out on 95 Avenue, 97 Street, 40 Avenue and 106 Street.



In 2014, council approved separated bike lanes on 83 Avenue and 102 Avenue. But both projects are still being designed, and some of the 102 Avenue lane isn’t scheduled to be completed until 2020 when the LRT comes through.



“It just frustrates the heck out of me that we approved that bike lane in 2014, and it’s now 2016, midway through the construction season and what do we see? Nada,” said McKeen.



A temporary grid downtown would give everyone a better picture of what’s possible and what the real traffic impacts are, he said. “I just think we can be a little more nimble on this.”