A 3.3-kilometre cycle path in eastern Luxembourg has been formally opened, decades after plans for the wider route were first drawn up.
The new section connects Medernach and Ermsdorf and forms part of a planned 33-kilometre cycling route between Junglinster and Reisdorf. Its inauguration on Friday brought Luxembourg another step closer to filling the remaining gaps in its national cycle network.
Mobility and Public Works Minister Yuriko Backes said the government aims to add 20 kilometres of cycle paths each year, provided projects progress as planned.
Officials marked the occasion by getting on their bicycles and testing the route themselves. The path is not entirely new, however, as construction work was completed in October last year.
The wider project has been in development since the 1990s. Once completed, it is expected to provide more than 33 kilometres of cycle paths between Junglinster and Reisdorf.
With the newly inaugurated section, almost 13 kilometres of the route have now been completed, including the stretch from Koedange to Ermsdorf.
It remains unclear when the remaining sections in eastern Luxembourg will be finished. Roland Fox, director of the National Roads Administration, nevertheless expressed confidence that it would not take another 30 years for work to begin on the final 20 kilometres.
He also described the national target of constructing 20 kilometres of new cycle paths each year as realistic, adding that efforts were under way to accelerate progress further.
