Maple Ridge wants a piece of the million dollars the province is dishing out to improve cycling.
And top of the list is an old project that was refused funding previously, a proposal to build a short recreational bicycle trail, about a kilometre long, connecting Airport Way in Pitt Meadows to Ospring Street in Hammond in Maple Ridge, using the natural area beneath the Golden Ears Bridge.
Money is already set aside for the District of Maple Ridge’s share, $50,000, of the project, said Russ Carmichael, with the public works department.
Maple Ridge also other projects for which it would like some help.
One is the long-delayed extension of the bike lane in Pitt Meadows on Old Dewdney Trunk Road.
Carmichael said it could be possible to build a two-directional path on the north side of Old Dewdney for that short distance.
Two other projects being considered: a cycling lane on Laity Street between Dewdney Trunk Road and Lougheed Highway, as well as a sidewalk, multi-use lane on the north side of Lougheed Highway between Burnett Street and 116th Avenue.
If money is approved in the new year, the cycle paths will be built next summer.
The money is provided under the Bike BC program that’s been running since 2008.
Part of the money is disbursed under the Gateway Program cycling network as well as the Cycling Infrastructure Partnerships Program.
The government has spent more than $150 million on cycling paths in B.C. since 2001.
