Work on connecting the E&N Rail Trail to the Galloping Goose Regional Trail at Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge will begin next year.
The construction marks the fourth phase of the active transportation project, which will stretch about 17 kilometres once completed.
The 2022 work will extend the trail by 0.7 kilometres from where it ends on Esquimalt Road to the Harbour Road overpass, where the paved path would meet up with the Galloping Goose.
The trail currently runs continuously for 13 kilometres through six communities between Jacklin Road in Langford and Esquimalt Road in Victoria.
The CRD said the trail furthers its priorities of increasing walking and cycling, as well as decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Costs for the regional district’s portion of phase four are being covered through a CRD loan. The regional government has also provided a letter of support to Victoria, which is seeking a grant application to assist with its portion. About $21 million in grant funding assisted development of the E&N Rail Trail’s first three phases, according to a CRD staff report.
Phase three of the trail’s development, a one-kilometre stretch connected two previously completed sections in Langford, was completed in July after construction began in 2019.
The final phase of the trail will include about 3.2 kilometres between Jacklin Road and Humpback Road. Construction of the last section will be scheduled once its route and funding sources are finalized.
READ: Wheels turning on CRD’s Galloping Goose, Lochside trails widening, lighting project
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