This is an argument that pops up every time there’s a debate about new bikelanes. So the next time you hear someone criticise bicycle infrastructure as ‘seasonal’, send them this cartoon!
You can also mention that bikelanes save lives and are even more important in the winter months because of wet road conditions.
Add your comments below! What else do you think we should shut down in the winter?
Mez Dispenser 
What the WHAT, Meslin??
How do you have time for all this prolific awesomeness?! And why haven’t you submitted anything to my comics zine?
It’s called gangLion – check out the blog!
Mez back at it… fighting for bike lanes isn’t a waste of time, I appreciate the good work of Councillor Adam Giambrone…
Bravo Mezo – and delivered in a format that everyone can understand ;)
Thanks!!!
One of the benefits of bikelanes in winter is to pedestrians, like a mom pushing her stroller or an elderly man with his walker–no, they don’t benefit by walking in the bikelane–they benefit because the cars that would throw slush or muddy water up on them on the sidewalk are 1.5 meters out, and traveling more slowly to boot!
You forgot sidewalks! They are way too dangerous in the winter months and can’t be properly cleared of snow by the city’s snowplows, so they are hardly used. Yet they cost way more than bike lanes. A total waste of money.
I tend to use the opposite argument: Because Ontario winters are so cold and miserable, we end up driving more, using more electricity, gas and fires for heating, and getting very little exercise. It is precisely for this reason that we should do everything humanly possible to encourage people to bike during the 4-8 months of the year. We owe that, at least, to ourselves and the rest of the world.
An excellent argument.
Bike lanes need to be plowed in winter as many cyclists still ride. On streets where there are no bike lanes the presence of cars often serves to melt away the snow, where bikes don’t do this. So a separated bike lane would need separated winter plowing (not a reason not to do the lane just to include the maintenance!)