COQUITLAM, B.C., March 13, 2024 – At HUB Cycling’s 11th Annual Bike Awards on March 12, Coquitlam received an Infrastructure Improvement Award for its first-ever City-built protected bike lane.
A respected cycling advocacy group, HUB Cycling, has recognized Coquitlam’s Guildford Greenway project, which is bringing a separated micromobility lane and other safety improvements to Guildford Way.
Stretching from the Port Moody border to Johnson Street on Guildford Way (with planned extensions to the Lafarge Lake-Douglas SkyTrain Station at Pinetree Way and even further east), this protected bike lane was one of the top priorities for HUB Cycling's local Tri-Cities Committee.
HUB, a non-profit group with a mission to get more people cycling, holds the awards to celebrate organizations and individuals making biking better in Metro Vancouver.
Project Constructed in Three Phases
The Guildford Greenway project has three phases that will ultimately bring a 2.1-kilometre separated lane along Guildford Way from Port Moody to Coquitlam River Park. The Greenway is dedicated to micromobility devices, such as people-powered and electric bikes, scooters and skateboards.
- Completed in 2023, Phase 1 of the Guildford Greenway project improved a 1.5-km section of Guildford Way between the Port Moody border and Johnson Street. Painted bike lanes were replaced with on-street micromobility lanes separated by curbing.
- Work in 2024 for Phase 2 includes:
- New raised, one-way separated micromobility lanes on both sides;
- Detectable separation between sidewalks and micromobility lanes;
- Full traffic signals at the Pacific Street and Town Centre Boulevard intersections;
- Improvements to street lighting and bus stops;
- Boulevard beautification and landscaping; and
- Improvements 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 to help improve compliance;
- Providing left turn only signals to significantly reduce the number of serious collisions; and
- Prohibiting right turns on red lights at all four corners while adding right turn only signals to help maintain capacity and operations.
The City will also replant a sequoia tree, currently located on the southbound right-turn island that is being removed, to a sequoia grove in Town Centre Park.
- Phase 3, set for 2025, will complete the final 1.4 kms to Coquitlam River Park at Ozada Avenue. More information will be shared about this project later this year.
About 60 per cent of the $4.9-million project is funded through a $500,000 B.C. Active Transportation Infrastructure Grant and $2.5 million from TransLink’s Municipal Cost Share Programs. While the remaining portion is included in Coquitlam’s approved Capital Plan, the City is applying for additional TransLink funding to complete the project.
Learn more about the project at coquitlam.ca/GuildfordGreenway.
Supporting Safe, Active Transportation
The Guildford Greenway project supports the City’s targets of zero road-related deaths and serious injuries, and that half of all trips by 2050 will be by foot, micromobility or transit. It also contributes to the sustainability goals in the Environmental Sustainability Plan and economic goals in the Economic Development Strategy.
Coquitlam is working to promote micromobility – low- to medium-speed transportation that is people-powered or electric, including bikes, scooters and skateboards – for standalone trips and transit connections through new infrastructure, services and regulation.
The City is planning for increased micromobility use in a new E-Mobility Strategy and an update to the Strategic Transportation Plan, and recently extended its participation in the provincial e-scooter pilot until 2028, enabling people age 16 and up to continue to ride e-scooters on designated routes throughout Coquitlam or use the expanding e-scooter and e-bike sharing services in City Centre.
Coquitlam has also adopted bylaws requiring bike facilities in new buildings, has over 115 kilometres of bike/micromobility routes, and provides interactive micromobility routes in its free CoquitlamConnect app, (see coquitlam.ca/CoquitlamConnect).
Visit coquitlam.ca/cycling for more on cycling in Coquitlam or coquitlam.ca/escooter for micromobility information resources.
Media contact:
Thomas Thivener
Transportation Planning Manager
604-927-3500
epw@coquitlam.ca
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (HUN-kuh-MEE-num) word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-KWET-lum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the q̓ic̓əy̓ (kat-zee), and other Coast Salish Peoples.