Representatives from Navarre, Gipuzkoa and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques were present on Wednesday, September 7, at the launch in Bayonne of the sustainable bicycle transport project "Ederbidea" for the period 2016-2019, an initiative for cross-border cooperation to promote the use of bicycles in daily and tourist trips.

Through this route, it will be possible to unite Pamplona, San Sebastian and the capital of Lapurdi on a bike route of 240 kilometers, of which 90 will be newly created. This could be accompanied by the development of a common policy to encourage the use of bicycles both from the point of view of tourism and leisure and from the point of view of daily commuting.

Currently, the cross-border route covers 132 kilometres. The beautification will facilitate continuity and connectivity through the construction of 90 new kilometers, of which 46 will go through bike paths (only for bicycles) or green paths (for use by non-motorists: pedestrians, cyclists, skaters, people with reduced mobility) and shared paths with 44 motor vehicles.

The objectives include: reducing polluting emissions and making progress in the sustainability of transport, speeding up traffic, improving the health of the population and creating a common tourism product.

On the day the project was launched, J.J. visited the headquarters of the Council of the Atlantic Pyrenees. Lasserre, President of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques; Manu Aymedio, Vice-President of the Government of Navarre; Marisol Garmendia, Provincial Deputy for Mobility and Spatial Planning of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.

Connection of the Bidasoa and Plazaola Greenways

In Navarre, Ederbide will operate in two parts: At the junction of the green roads of Bidasoa and Plazaola (about 42.5 kilometers) and where the old railway of Plazaola meets Pamplona, about 25 kilometers between Dos Hermanos-Irurtzun-Pamplona. In the latter part, as the Government takes over the land, it will take over the works of the Ministry of Agriculture. About 68 kilometers (the exact length will be defined in the corresponding project).

As for Lapurdi, the adaptation and certification works of Eurovélo 1-Vélodyssée will continue in the municipalities of Biarritz (6 kilometers), Bidarte (5.6 kilometers), Saint-Jean-de-Luz (2.2 kilometers) and Hendaye (1.4 kilometers). A total of 15 new kilometers that will be added to the cyclist route of the Atlantic.

In Gipuzkoa, the bike and pedestrian routes will join the municipalities of Hondarribia and Irún in the Txingudi-Bidasoa Special Conservation Area, and between the Bidasoa Hospital and the Amut neighborhood, as part of the Errenteria-Irún bike path, which is about 3 kilometers long.

This news has been published by Erran.eus and we have brought it to LUZ thanks to the license CC-by-sa