Imagine riding your bike from north Calgary into Airdrie, or following the Bow River west all the way into Cochrane without touching a highway. A Calgary councillor is formally pushing to make both happen and more groundwork has already been laid than most people realize.
The Motion
Ward 3 Councillor Andrew Yule is bringing a notice of motion to Calgary's executive committee on March 3 that asks the city to explore two dedicated cycling corridors: one along Nose Creek to Airdrie, and one along the Bow River to Cochrane. Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Ward 4 Councillor DJ Kelly are co-sponsoring it. If it passes technical review, council votes in March.
Yule isn't new to this fight. Before being elected in October 2025, he spent years as president of the Nose Creek Preservation Society, repeatedly pushing for the creek valley to become an intermunicipal parkway connecting the two cities.
The Airdrie Route: A $70,000 Study That Went Nowhere
In 2021, Calgary, Airdrie, and Rocky View County each contributed $13,333 to a shared $70,000 feasibility study with Trans Canada Trail covering the rest to map out a Nose Creek pathway connection. The study found the idea viable and estimated the path would cost under $10 million. Then in spring 2023, Rocky View County blinked, opting to defer the project until all partners were aligned. It died quietly.
Calgary-based photographer Matthew Hicks, who originally lobbied all three orders of government to commission that study, still bikes to Airdrie six to ten times a year on an electric bicycle without a safe, dedicated route.
"It was a little painful to see all the hard work go to waste," he said. "But Calgary and Airdrie are expanding toward each other. It feels inevitable."
He's right. The two cities' boundaries are now only a few kilometres apart, with new development pushing north and south on both sides.
The Cochrane Route: Most of It Already Exists
The Cochrane corridor is quietly further along than anyone talks about. Cochrane's Rotary Club has been building a 38-kilometre trail along the Bow River connecting Cochrane to Calgary's Rotary Mattamy Greenway in the northwest, passing through Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and Haskayne Legacy Park. Large sections are already paved and open. What's missing are three final pieces: a trail link from Cochrane into Glenbow Ranch, a pedestrian bridge across the Bow River, and a CP Rail crossing.
The long-term vision goes even further eventually extending the trail to Canmore, filling the last gap in the Trans Canada Trail. You'd be able to ride from Calgary to Banff without once sharing road with a semi.
Why This Time Might Be Different
A new regional collaboration table formed in December 2025, replacing the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board after the province cut its funding and the board dissolved. Yule sees the new table as the opening he's been waiting for to get all the right people back in the same room.
The motion goes to executive committee March 3.
Sources: City of Airdrie council records; AirdrieCityView.com; City of Calgary Haskayne Legacy Park development page; Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation; Nose Creek Preservation Society;
