The diggers are out and the ground is broken close to Coquitlam City Hall for the next construction phase of the Guildford Greenway.
The municipality is extending the cycling and micromobility pathways along Guildford Way from Johnson to Westwood streets; completion by Lafarge Canada is expected this fall.
And the third and final stage, heading east to Coquitlam River Park, will come next year to complete the final 1.4 km of the 2.1-kilometre route along the Greenway.
Micromobility is defined as affordable, lightweight and low-speed vehicles for transportation or recreation such as bicycles, e-Bikes, scooters and e-Scooters.
Besides the dedicated laneways — on both sides of Guildford — there will be area road improvements such as:
- better street lighting and bus stops
- boulevard beautification and landscaping
- full traffic signals at the Pacific Street and Town Centre Boulevard intersections
- updates at the Pinetree/Guildford intersection including:
- removing the separated right-turn island for southbound turns on Pinetree Way to Guildford Way, and installing a standard right-turn lane
- providing left-turn only signals
- prohibiting right turns on red lights at all four corners while adding right-turn only signals
The $4.9-million bill for the Guildford Greenway is being paid for through the city’s development cost charges receipts, TransLink’s capital cost-sharing programs ($2.5 million) and a BC Active Transportation Grant ($500,000).
A multi-million-dollar project to protect Coquitlam micromobility users has begun, and it's set to stretch more than two kilometres to Port Moody. https://t.co/ZOvzDCRWtV
— Tri-City News (@TriCityNews) June 6, 2023
The move to micromobility lanes around the city is part of the city’s Strategic Transportation Plan 2025 to have:
- no serious injuries and fatalities on the roads (Vision Zero)
- no transportation greenhouse gas emissions (Climate Action Plan)
- half of all trips be by foot, micromobility and public transit
Last year, Phase 1 of the Guildford Greenway was installed from Johnson Street to the Port Moody border.
In March, HUB Cycling recognized Coquitlam with an Infrastructure Improvement Award for its protected lane, at the nonprofit group’s 11th annual Bike Awards.
As well, Coquitlam recently extended its participation in the provincial government’s e-Scooter pilot program until 2028.
According to city data, about 50,000 people in City Centre rode Lime or Neuron electric vehicles in 2023 in six months, after the micromobility project launch last June — averaging 300 trips a day. A third of the trips started or ended within 100 m of a SkyTrain station.
