North Delta’s bike pump track is officially under construction after being approved for a community cost sharing program with the Corporation of Delta in the fall of 2016.
The park, located behind the Rotary skatepark and Hillside Boys and Girls Club on 84th Avenue, will cost approximately $40,000 to build according to former Rotary president Susan Gage. The Rotary is putting forward $20,000 and the corporation will provide the remainder.
According to the Corporation of Delta’s website, a bike pump track is “a man-made closed circuit with berms largely made of earth on each end. A rider uses the rollers (whoops) and berms to ‘pump’ speed into the bike with minimal pedaling. Speed is generated when the cyclist rides the bike over the rollers by pulling up and then pushing down…The harder the cyclist pushes, the faster they go.”
The Corporation of Delta opened its first bike pump track in Ladner adjacent to Holly Park in October, 2014. The municipality is considering building another at Tsawwassen’s Grauer Park.
Gage said Delta first approached the Rotary with an idea for a youth-oriented project in 2015.
“Our club likes to get behind any project that’s youth-driven,” she said, so the Rotary signed on.
On June 20, the first loads of dirt were put into place behind the skatepark to create the new BMX-style track.
Gage didn’t know exactly how long the new park will take to build, but expects it to be finished late summer or early fall 2017.