Summerside expanding active transportation network with bike lane along Pope Road

Posing for a photo at the announcement of the bike lane are, from left, Summerside city councillor Nick Cameron, Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke MLA Hilton MacLennan, Coun. Bruce MacDougall, Minister of Social Development and Seniors Barb Ramsay, Mayor Dan Kutcher and Deputy Mayor Cory Snow. (Submitted by the City of Summerside - image credit)
Posing for a photo at the announcement of the bike lane are, from left, Summerside city councillor Nick Cameron, Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke MLA Hilton MacLennan, Coun. Bruce MacDougall, Minister of Social Development and Seniors Barb Ramsay, Mayor Dan Kutcher and Deputy Mayor Cory Snow. (Submitted by the City of Summerside - image credit)

The City of Summerside is adding an active transportation lane along Pope Road that it hopes will encourage more cycling.

The project cost of $1.3 million will be shared with the P.E.I. government.

The 1.9-kilometre lane will run from South Drive to Central Street and be completed in two stages. The first stage will be built from Central to Greenwood Drive, then extended to South Drive.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of November.

"Summerside is becoming a national leader in green energy," Barb Ramsay, a former city councillor who is now the province's minister of social development and seniors, said in a news release.

"Active transportation is another component to Summerside's successful leadership and this new route pairs well with the city's plans for the future."

It's the second active transportation lane in the area, joining a previously completed project along Greenwood Drive from Pope Road to Water Street.