Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch has received some support in his call for bicycle lanes on a reconstructed Highway 6 on the Bruce Peninsula.
Grey County Council have unanimously endorsed a motion by Georgian Bluffs Mayor Alan Barfoot to join Murdoch in asking for paved bike lanes on the highway.
The province has announced it will repave 70 kilometres of the road between Mar and Tobermory.
The work to be done includes a paved shoulder about a half-metre wide.
Murdoch and cycling advocates have since spoken up, saying the shoulders should be a metre wide in order to accommodate bike lanes.
Grey County’s motion points to cycling as a boost to regional tourism, as well as a benefit to the overall health and well being of residents and tourists.
Barfoot says that it’s likely the province would not agree to further improvements to this particular stretch of highway for at least another 15 or 20 years, so if bike lanes are to be added, now is the time.
It could add another 1 million dollars to the project, which is already valued at approximately 20 million.
A copy of the county’s resolution will be forwarded to Murdoch, to Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell and to Bruce County.
Barfoot says the issue should also come forward at this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, which will happen in August.
The province should have a strategy or a direction for bike lanes on highways.