Hope path to cost $2.7 million

It’s going to cost nearly $3 million to build a new two-kilometre multi-use path in Hope.

The Richmond Hill multi-use pathway, a project that was awarded to an Agassiz-based construction company, Timbro Contracting, last month, will connect the residential neighbourhood of Silver Creek to downtown.

The $2.7 million project has been in the works for about five years and will be backed by a pair of $500,000 grants from Trans Mountain and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The city is expected to cover the remaining $1.7 million.

The path will be three metres wide and its construction will Flood Hope Road from three vehicles lanes to two. Hope Mayor Victor Smith hopes the new route will encourage residents—seniors who use e-scooters and young cyclists—to take alternative forms of transportation.

“We want them in the outdoors,” said Smith, adding that about half of Hope’s population is people over 50, many of who use e-scooters. “Don’t sit there and hibernate at home. This thing will open up things to make a healthier lifestyle for people.”

The project also includes plans to repave a portion of Flood Hope Road, construct a new signalized crossing and other lighting improvements. The work will be done between Exit 170 and Silverview Road.

The cost for the project is similar to that required for similar projects in the Fraser Valley.

The first phase of Mission’s 7th Avenue Greenway, about a two-kilometre connection between central Mission and Fraser River Heritage Park, cost around $2.5 million. Langley City spent $2.9 million to overhaul a portion of Glover Road and install protected bike lanes in 2022.

The district initially received $500,000 from Trans Mountain in 2022. The provincial funding was awarded two years later.

The District waited to build the path until Trans Mountain built part of an 89-kilometre pipeline extension through the city. Work on the extension, which kicked off in 2019, was finished in June.

“There was a ton of trucks pounding the road out. Why would we put [the new road] down and have it pounded out in one year?” Smith said.

Construction is expected to begin around Christmas and last into next year.