Cyclists and pedestrians in London are getting a bridge that connects two trails in the east end of the city.
London North Centre MPP and Deputy Premier Deb Matthews joined Deputy Mayor Paul Hubert on Friday morning to announce a $375,000 grant from the province to be put toward a bike and pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks near Trafalgar St. and Thorne Ave. The City of London will pay the remaining cost of the bridge, which is expected to be finished in two years.
"The government of Ontario really wants to support the building of more bike trails, hiking trails, walking trails, so we set aside $10 million and asked municipalities to apply for grants up to $325,000 to add to the infrastructure to create more opportunities for people to get out and enjoy the outdoors," says Matthews.
The bridge will connect existing paths in the area, which Matthews says will make things easier for cyclists and pedestrians.
"It's connecting two paths, that right now you have to go off the path and along the streets and cross a road," she says. "So this will create a 1 km path that joins up two exisiting paths. So it's a bike path, a bridge over the railway tracks and then a boardwalk."
John Braam, managing director and city engineer, says they are in the design phase right now and construction should begin next year.
"It will allow access for about 100,000 people and users to the Kiwana's parkway system, connect them through to the Thames Valley parkway system," Braam says. "The Thames Valley Parkway system is our system that flows through the three branches of the Thames River and it's a beautiful venue and a great walking and a wonderful cycling venue as well. We're really estatic, this is a missing link, so this is really providing us with the accessibility that we need."
Braam says the whole idea is for Londoner's to get out and be active.
"We did a transportation master plan about two or three years ago and one of the most important links that we found inside that transportation master plan was the active link; getting people walking, getting people cycling, getting people more healthy. It's all about trying to do that in the most convenient and accessible way for residents of London."
**This story was written by Kayley Leon, a student in the Media, Theory, and Production program at Western University. Kayley is currently performing an internship with BlackburnNews.com**
