New trail to Greenwich will make ride safer for cyclists
CBC
A new nine-kilometre trail connecting the Greenwich portion of P.E.I. National Park with the St. Peters area should encourage more active transportation, the province says.
The provincial government has committed $4 million to the project, which was announced Monday. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is contributing $625,000.
The trail will run parallel to Long Bay. It will begin from Route 16 — Northside Road — and will connect walkers and cyclists to the existing trails at Greenwich.
Jordan Bober, the executive director of Cycling P.E.I., said it's good news for cyclists.
"Any time I hear about a new active transportation path or trail anywhere, I'm very happy to hear about that. It's simply something that allows more people to get safely from one place to another," said Bober.
"We know that that's important, whether they're going to work or going shopping or if they're just out, you know, enjoying the province recreationally, including tourists, as well as local residents."
Steven Myers, P.E.I.'s minister of environment, energy and climate action, said work on the trail will begin as as soon as possible with the goal of being completed by the summer of 2023.
"We are putting money into any of the communities through our active transportation fund who put forward a plan to have trails in their community, so we are excited by that so I think we will continue to work and grow that out," he said.
"As we continue to build these pathways to make cycling safe and put money toward helping rebate people to get into cycling, I think you will see more and more people get braver and take their bike further."
Bober said there is lots of potential for bicycle trails on P.E.I., but the key is to make sure they are connected.
"This time of year, we get a lot of tourists to reach out to Cycling P.E.I. asking about safe places where they can interface between, you know, connect from a road to the Confederation Trail, for example," said Bober.
"That's actually one of the big selling points of P.E.I., is that we have this Confederation Trail Network and now the Island Walk that some people are by bicycling as well. And they want to know how they can kind of get along our roadway safely to connect to some of those points of interest."
