Bike Friendly Charlottetown 'ecstatic' about bike lane for Hillsborough Bridge

A representative of a cycling advocacy group in Charlottetown was excited to learn that an active transportation lane will be built on Hillsborough Bridge three years ahead of schedule.

The P.E.I. government made the announcement last week. The lane will be one of a number of infrastructure projects moved forward as the federal government looks to push spending through.

"I was ecstatic. I think this is a huge benefit to the area," said group member Mitch Underhay.

"Our whole goal is to have an interconnected network of active transportation lanes in and around Charlottetown, and I think that the Hillsborough Bridge is the biggest single piece of the puzzle that needs to be built."

The Hillsborough Bridge connects Charlottetown and Stratford, P.E.I.'s largest and third-largest communities. Underhay said as it stands the bridge is not safe for bicycles, with the shoulders interrupted by drainage areas that require cyclists to occasionally veer out into traffic.

Underhay said Bike Friendly Charlottetown would ultimately like to see a network of trails extending from Cornwall through Charlottetown to Stratford that would allow a level of safety similar to Confederation Trail.

"You've got little pieces here and there, but trying to get between them, it's not necessarily safe," he said.

In 2017, the then Liberal government said it would install a bike lane as part of a now-completed project to install a sewer line under the bridge. It then deferred the bike lane to 2023, and last fall the new Progressive Conservative government confirmed that timeline.

More from CBC P.E.I.