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How does the money for bike lanes compare with what Edmonton spends on roads?

· Discussed by 5 people · 7 claims

Going ahead

Capital budgets and project cost sheets can put the active-transportation allocation beside road spending and test each percentage and project comparison on the same basis.

The four-year capital budget and the project cost sheets for road jobs like 50 Street settle the phasing, the share and every comparison drawn from them.

People arguing in both directions raised this question, and every claim they made about it is checked, whichever way it points.

What the outcomes mean

Where it came from

Taken from Yegscoop post on council's 2026-08-26 bike lane decision, read end to end. Every factual claim in it was extracted and merged, so this question is listed whatever became of it.

Facebook post · captured · 621 comments

The names below are pseudonyms, one to a commenter within this source; the number is the comment's place in the captured thread.

The original post

The claims under it

  1. The $100 million is around 1 percent of Edmonton's capital budget for roads, with 99 percent going to roads for cars.

    Discussed by 2 people

    • we currently spend 99% of our road budget on roads for cars so spending is on track

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 187

    • why should those 2% of riders pay for the 98% road infrastructure when drivers cry about paying 2% to keep cyclists safe?

      Riverside Muskrat A. · comment 189

    • spending 1% of our budget on transportation that includes >2% of trips is a great investment.

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 295

    • 100 million is less than 1% of the road budget so it's proportionally well spent

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 331

    • we are getting a great deal spending only 1% of the budget on it

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 333

    • is around 1% of the capital expansion budget for roads.

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 450

  2. The $100 million for active transportation is spread over a four-year budget cycle.

    Discussed by 2 people

    • It's 100 million over 4 years

      Granite Beaver P. · comment 266

    • It's $100 million over 4 years.

      Granite Beaver P. · comment 339

    • It's $100 million over 4 years

      Granite Beaver P. · comment 364

    • You should know that $100 million is over the 4 year budget cycle

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 450

  3. The City is spending $181 million to grade separate 600 metres of 50 Street.

    Discussed by 1 person

    • We spend $181 million on grade separating 600m of 50th Street.

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 450

  4. That 600 metres of 50 Street costs nearly double the entire four-year active transportation investment.

    Discussed by 1 person

    • That's nearly double the cost for 600m of road compared to the entire 4 year investment in active transportation

      Cedar Pelican C. · comment 450

  5. Edmonton spends billions on road building, including the Yellowhead.

    Discussed by 1 person

    • the billions for road building.

      Granite Beaver P. · comment 266

    • the billions for the Yellowhead and other road projects

      Granite Beaver P. · comment 364

  6. The City's $100 million for the active transportation network is close to proportional to the number of cyclists.

    Discussed by 1 person

    • the City's 100M for the active transportation network is close to proportional to cyclist numbers

      Amber Grebe B. · comment 26

  7. Maintaining Edmonton's bike lanes costs about three quarters of a million dollars a year.

    Discussed by 1 person

    • it costs around three quarters of a million to maintain them every year

      Rustic Merlin K. · comment 513