BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Biking in downtown Bellingham may become safer sooner than expected.

The Bellingham city council voted Tuesday night to approve building a bike lane down E Holly Street, which runs through the center of downtown.

In addition, some intersections will have extended walking signals for pedestrians to allow for greater visibility.

Public Works Director Eric Johnston emphasized in the committee meeting earlier Tuesday the importance of the bike lane as a fulfillment of the Climate Action Plan.

“[We] try to find ways to encourage people to get out of their single-occupancy vehicles, to find alternatives to taking a car,” Johnston said at the afternoon meeting. “Biking and walking are a good way to do that. So, implementing our Climate Action Plan – this is a measure we can point to as [a way to] achieve those goals.”

He added that the pilot project falls in line with Kim Lund’s plans to “reactivate downtown” by helping people come into Bellingham’s downtown.

Johnston said there are more benefits than simply the bike lane itself. He notes the ideas of slowing cars down and to do other things to enhance the pedestrian environment in order to bring more foot traffic into downtown.

The pilot project will begin construction in early May.