The cost to test a downtown bike network with five cycling tracks and eventually make it permanent is approximately $15 million, according to a city committee report.

The city’s transportation department wants to introduce the dedicted bike lanes for a one-year trial starting in the summer of 2015. The proposal will go to councillors on April 28 for approval.

The pilot project will cost about $9.3 million plus an additional $5.2 million if the cycle infrastructure is made permanent, according to the latest cost estimates.

Upkeep of the network will require $540,000 per year. But if the project is ultimately scrapped, the price tag to remove all five tracks is about $2 million.

The network would feature separated, two-way cycle lanes running north-south on 1st Street S.E. and 5th Street S.W., and east-west routes on 8th Avenue and 12th Avenue S. The 8th Avenue lane would include the pedestrian section of Stephen Avenue.

A one-way cycle track would also run on 8th Street S.W. between 10th Avenue and 17th Avenue, connecting to the existing bike lane on 7th Street, which opened in 2013.

The city estimates that over the next two decades, 40,000 additional people will have jobs downtown.

But without the ability to build new roads to handle so many vehicles, Calgary needs to consider alternatives to address the impending commuter crunch, said Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra.

The cost to build and maintain a few cycle tracks is minimal when compared to the dollars required for public transit and roadway maintenance.

“You simply can’t stuff many more cars downtown. This is a $9 million investment on a network that will really open up a whole other mode of access,” Carra said.

“I think it’s an important and necessary thing in the evolution of our city.”

In the event the city’s analysis proves incorrect and pedallers don’t use the cycle track, the temporary barriers can be removed and deployed in other areas, he added.

“We would have spent some money on improving the way the intersections function, which is something that my colleagues on council who aren’t super-supportive of bikes have been asking for anyway,” Carra said.

The installation of five cycle tracks means some 260 parking spaces will disappear — particularly on 12 Avenue and 8 Avenue — but the city has pledged to add angled parking stalls on side streets and modify median barriers to allow for curbside parking.

tgignac@calgaryherald.com