More than $562,000 will be spent to improve active transportation in one Saint John neighbourhood.
The money, announced Monday, will be used to connect two existing pieces of sidewalk along Boars Head Road.
Michael Hugenholtz, the city’s transportation commissioner, said this missing piece of active transportation infrastructure has stuck out for years.
“This is an area that sees a lot of people walking in the neighbourhood,” Hugenholtz said after the announcement.
“There’s residential neighbourhoods, there’s churches in the area, there’s schools, there’s a retirement residence.”
The funding will enable the construction of 340 metres of new connector sidewalk along Boars Head Road.
At 1.5 metres in width, officials said it will offer more access for various modes of active transportation, including pedestrians and people using wheelchairs.
Hugenholtz said the price tag also includes upgrades to underground infrastructure in the area.
“Before we can add a curb and sidewalk, we also have to deal with the surface runoff which, in this case, meant adding a number of catchbasins and a new pipe stormwater system through the area,” he said.
Design work will soon begin on the project, which Hugenholtz said they expect to tender this year or next year at the very latest.
The city will spend $224,926 on the work while the federal government is contributing $337,387 through the Active Transportation Fund.
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