The city should focus new bike lane construction on the city centre, council will hear when it reviews the draft of a new Transportation Master Plan at an upcoming meeting.
The plan, which must still be approved by council, lays out the highest priority roads for a new biking network.
The city currently has a fragmented biking network, but the goal will be to ensure that cyclists can rely on a continuous network to navigate through the centre of the city.
A long-term plan envisions hundreds of bike lanes extending to the far reaches of the city’s urban core. But central areas should be prioritized, planners suggest.
Many of the roads identified in the plan aren’t major thoroughfares, but instead run parallel to them to allow for safer use.
West of Clearbrook, for example, Crossley Drive and Charlotte Avenue have been identified as a key route.
Others routes identified as high-priority:
North/south
- Tims Street and Parkview Street
- Emerson Street
- Ware Street
East/west
- Hillcrest Avenue
- Peardonville Road
- Simon Avenue
- Mayfair Avenue
Routes suggested for medium-term upgrades include connections to High Street, and connecting the historic downtown with the McMillan neighbourhood via Old Yale Road
The plan suggests continuing to spend $300,000 each year to build out the high-priority routes while finding more funding opportunities and co-ordinating with developers to upgrade local bike facilities near new projects. But in years to come, the plan suggests considering boosting funding to speed up the building of new cycling routes.
The City of Abbotsford is hosting an open house regarding the draft master plan for transportation and transit, as well as other new plans for its utility systems, on April 24 from 1 to 5 p.m at the Clearbrook Library.
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