Port McNeill council members are on board with the province’s Active Transportation Network Plan (ATNP).
Previously known as Bike BC, the re-introduced program is “focused on building safer, more accessible, and convenient active transportation infrastructure,” said a report from CAO Pete Nelson-Smith.
Municipalities, Indigenous governments and regional districts are invited to submit funding proposals to the cost-shared Active Transportation Grant Programs.
The town currently has no transportation plan as a stand-alone document or within any other current policies.
Funding to create a plan requires a 50 percent cost share.
The North Island Gazette reported that Coun. Derek Koel put forward a motion to apply for an ATNP planning grant totalling $50,000, of which the town’s share would be up to a maximum of $25,000.
The Gazette said the motion passed and included a provision to form a community-based planning committee.
B.C. transportation minister, Claire Trevena, said this grant program is “designed to meet the needs of rural and urban communities, so people of all ages and abilities can benefit from better connections between neighbourhoods, schools, work offices, transit stations and town centres.”
The revised program is expanded to support all types of active transportation infrastructure, such as pedestrian safety improvements to sidewalks, improved lighting along pathways and end-of-trip facilities.
