The Sixth Avenue Bike Lane in Downtown Kamloops has unofficially opened to the public, about one year after work first began.

While construction wrapped up a few weeks ago, the City’s Transportation Manager, Purvez Irani, says crews had to also install a new traffic light system at the intersection of Sixth and Victoria.

“We had to put new traffic timing plans for that, so that has been done. The bike signals are operating so technically speaking yes, the facility is ready,” Irani told Radio NL.

“[The lights were] the final item that we wanted to ensure [was working.] We tested it out and with the switch of a button everything was flowing, the traffic was flowing. The bike signals were working exactly as expected.”

Irani says while the new lights will lead to a bit of a learning curve for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, he isn’t expecting there to be too many issues.

“This is the first kind of bike facility in Kamloops but if you follow the rules of the road, there should be nothing that is too surprising, “Irani said.

“We looked at the capacity at the intersection and it was performing quite well so as long as you follow the rules of the road, the road system will perform as its intended to do.”

There will be a more formal opening ceremony for the bike lane in the not too distant future.

Irani says those details are being worked out right now.