Far away from the coming downtown cycle lanes — and even farther removed from the intense controversy they’ve generated — cycling planners want to install 25 kilometres of new bike lanes in neighbourhoods across every quadrant in 2015 and 2016.

From Bowness to Marlborough Park to Glamorgan, these likely won’t get parsed and debated for hours at council meetings, like the barrier-separated cycle tracks downtown.

In most cases, they won’t be barrier-separated lanes at all, and will be permanent rather than one-year trials. The roads they’re proposed to go on, like Northmount Drive, 20th Street S.W. and Madigan Drive N.E., are quiet enough that painted lanes will suffice for safe riding.

“It’s a less aggressive insertion,” said Coun. Brian Pincott.

In his ward, several bike lanes with possible concrete buffers are proposed around Mount Royal University — following route upgrades to encourage University of Calgary cyclists. Another will stretch for about 40 blocks of 20th Street S.W., already heavily used as a bike corridor, so residents will embrace the safer option, Pincott said.

This week, the city issued a call for design consultants to plan these various suburban and inner-city routes, taking into account traffic, parking needs and doing community consultation.

Until the recent downtown cycling debates, the city would often string bike lanes along roads like 10th Street N.W. and 26th Avenue S.W. with little public engagement, let alone careful vetting at council committees. Inadequate consultation got Pincott into hot water in 2012, when Lakeview residents demanded bike lanes be removed on a quiet part of Crowchild Trail.

Community engagement is key to the pre-design work for these newly proposed bikeways, according to a city tender document.

Early discussions about bike lanes through the heart of Bowness Road have already created one conflict. The community association has already OK’d axing Bowness Road traffic lanes west of 70th Street N.W. for bike lanes, but is undecided about extending them east to the river.

“They’re going to be paving that road in the next couple years, so that’s obviously time to discuss it,” community planning chair Mike Crawford said.

“But we have heard pushback from businesses so we haven’t really touched it as a board. Many Bownesians, I think, would want it.”

It’s unclear how the Bowness shopping district’s angled parking would safely coexist with bike lanes. Coun. Ward Sutherland said if businesses and community groups can’t support it, he’ll push to find an alternate route for cyclists.

On most of the proposed routes, street parking may be sacrificed but likely not traffic lanes, as most are already two-lane roads. There are three existing bike routes that will get reviewed, including lanes on industrial 11th Street S.E. that get little usage.

The city transportation department did not reply Wednesday to a request for cost estimates of these lanes, although most bike lane painting would be done in conjunction with planned road resurfacing.

This year, the city has several smaller bike lane projects, including the west end of Bowness Road and Sunmills Drive S.E. in Sundance. Planners predict both routes will calm automobile traffic.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com