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Delta granted $150K for bike route connecting breweries, boutiques and beach

16-kilometre ‘Barns to Beaches Bike Route’ expected to open in time for the summer solstice in June
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The City of Delta has been granted $150,000 by the province towards the soon-to-open “Barns to Beaches Bike Route” linking several of the city’s breweries, bistros, boutiques, farm stands and beaches. (City of Delta image)

The provincial government is contributing $150,000 to help set up a bike route connecting breweries, farm stands and other businesses in Ladner and Tsawwassen.

Set to officially open in time for the summer solstice on June 21, the City of Delta’s Barns to Beaches Bike Route will codify a popular path that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when many across the region turned to cycling as a way to stay active, support local businesses with outdoor facilities, and connect with others while complying with social distancing guidelines, according to a Jan. 5 report to Delta council.

The 16-kilometre north/south route is made up of a series of existing cycling segments along farm roads and the multi-use pathway along the Boundary Bay dike. It connects Four Winds Brewing in Tilbury to Market Square in Southlands, running past Barnside Brewing in Ladner, Centennial Beach, and a host of small businesses, restaurants and farm stands in between.

The goal is to stitch these various locations and bike routes into one “day-trip destination experience” that can be marketed by Tourism Delta and other members of Delta’s Community Resilience and Economic Recovery Support Team.

“Our Barns to Beaches Bike Route will connect visitors to some of Delta’s best tourism assets: our breweries, berries, birds, barns, beaches, boutiques and bistros,” Mayor George Harvie said in an April 25 B.C. government press release.

“The Destination Development Fund grant we received will go a long way toward helping the City of Delta develop a day-trip destination experience accessible for people of all ages. I look forward to riding the Barns to Beaches Bike Route with my family this summer.”

Funding for the bike route is part of a $50-million investment in tourism infrastructure announced by the province last week, grants that include $20 million to repair Science World’s iconic dome. The new funding is in addition to the $15 million previously allocated for 2023.

READ MORE: Science World to get $20M from B.C. for leaky dome repairs

“Delta has many great bike paths and people from all over the Lower Mainland travel to our city to ride them,” Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon said in an NDP caucus press release.

“I’m very proud to announce that our government is providing funding (…) to promote and maintain the Barns to Beaches route, which will likely extend all the way into North Delta in the coming years.”

The City of Delta has already allocated $50,000 in its capital budget to establish the route and enhance safety as part of its Cycling Master Plan.

The additional grant funding will be used for branded wayfinding signage, digital and analog traffic signage, digital speed reader boards, cycling pavement markings, benches for resting, cycling repair kiosks, and bike racks. Informational signage along the route will “educate and raise awareness of local heritage, agricultural, safety and environmental features,” the report states.



editor@northdeltareporter.com

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James Smith

About the Author: James Smith

James Smith is the founding editor of the North Delta Reporter.
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