Huntingdon Road will be getting more than eight kilometres of formalized bike lanes.
The city will add pavement markings and widen the shoulder along certain stretches of the road between Mt. Lehman and Riverside roads.
The plan, which council approved last week, came after the province denied a request for funding for another Huntingdon bike project.
The city had originally asked the province to pay half the $400,000 cost of a Huntingdon bike link between Mt. Lehman and Bradner roads. The project would have require the road widened in certain areas, but staff were told in March that the request for funding had been rejected.
Now, the city will create a formalized bike lane along a longer stretch of Huntingdon east of Mt. Lehman to Riverside Road. The paved shoulder along much of that stretch is already marked off. The project would cover a significantly longer stretch of road, but cost half of the other proposal: just $200,000. All of that would come from city funds.
While some small sections would require the widening of shoulders, a staff report notes that the majority of the route would just require pavement markings. The report notes the route “is a popular recreational, touring and well-utilized east-west bicycle route.”
Staff said the project will also give the city the ability to point to its own work when lobbying the province for future bike funding grants.
Coun. Les Barkman, though, questioned whether the city should instead focus on bike projects in the centre of town that could be used by commuters.
Staff said the Huntingdon corridor is a vital east-west linkage.
Barkman also questioned the safety of the route. Coun. Dave Loewen said he has cycled several east-west routes through rural Abbotsford, and Huntingdon is the safest. And Coun. Patricia Ross said the lanes will improve safety.