Riga to Expand Urban Bike Paths
The city of Riga is moving forward with plans to expand its bicycle infrastructure, aiming to create an easy bike passage through the city center. The upcoming urban project will add more cycle paths, building on new lanes that were first introduced in 2015 to improve accessibility.
The latest expansion is part of a broader, unified cycle route project connecting Riga with the surrounding municipalities of Ropaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, and Ādaži. This larger initiative, backed by €34.5 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, aims to develop 52 kilometers of cycling infrastructure by May 31, 2026. A separate, concurrent project will add another 16.6 kilometers of cycling paths connecting Riga to Piņķi, Ulbroka, and Ķekava. This €25.63 million investment is also primarily funded by the Recovery and Resilience Fund and is scheduled for completion by May 2026. The goal is to transform the currently fragmented infrastructure into a continuous and high-speed network. These new developments build on recent additions. In June 2024, the city completed eight kilometers of new paths across three routes, connecting neighborhoods like Āgenskalns, Ķīpsala, Mežciems, Čiekurkalns, and Mežaparks. One key connection filled a gap in the Pārdaugava network between the Vanšu bridge and Uzvaras Park. Riga's cycling history is long, with some routes like the path to Jurmala dating back to the Soviet era and others established in the 1990s. However, for years, development was minimal and the network remained disjointed, prompting criticism that the infrastructure was more for leisure than daily transport. The city's strategy is guided by a Cycling Infrastructure concept approved in December 2022 for the period up to 2030. The ambitious plan aims for a more than 400% increase in the number of cyclists by improving safety and convenience, and better integrating cycling into the city's overall transport system. To improve safety on central streets, the city has implemented measures like physically separated lanes on Bruņinieku Street and dedicated "bike box" stopping areas at intersections for cyclists making left turns. This addresses long-standing issues where cyclists and drivers competed for space on narrow central streets.
