WINNIPEG is poised to buy a 6.7-kilometre stretch of unused railway in the northeast quadrant of the city to build a bike path -- and future rapid-transit corridor -- all the way from the inner city to East St. Paul.

DESPITE a drastic increase in proposed city spending on bike and pedestrian paths, almost all the money set aside this year to create new trails will be spent on a single project.

The 2007 capital budget calls for the city to spend $1.5 million on new recreational trails, up 750 per cent from slightly less than $200,000 in 2006.

But most of the new cash will be consumed by plans to build a 6.7-kilometre path along the former Marconi rail line through East and North Kildonan, which the city is purchasing from the Canadian Pacific Railway in a $1.7-million deal brokered by businessman John Buhler.

"Marconi is a fairly long path and that will consume a big chunk of the budget," said Bill Larkin, director of the city's public works department.

He said it's possible some funds will be reserved to build a trail alongside McGillivray Boulevard, which the city plans to widen at a cost of $11.5 million.

But the city won't know for certain what Winnipeg trails will be built this year until it becomes clear how much of the $1.5-million trail-creation kitty will be devoted to the Marconi Line.

Winnipeg cycling activists, whose representatives appeared before Mayor Sam Katz's cabinet on Jan. 17, are praising the increased trail funding, which comes close to the $1.7-million target they had requested.

That figure is supposed to represent a proportion of annual city roadwork spending that's equal to the proportion of Winnipeggers who commute to work by bike versus all commuters.

Now, the cycling activists would like to see the city develop a framework for future trail creation so the new money can be spent wisely and efficiently.

"We have $1.5 million, but we don't have a plan," said Rob Cosco, a spokesman for activist group Bike to the Future.

During the summer of 2006, three cycling-activism groups -- Bike to the Future, SPIN and the more radical Critical Mass -- all drew attention to the inadequate state of city bike trails, stressing it is not safe for cyclists to share major commuter routes with motorists.

Bike to the Future also appealed to council's public works subcommittee to ensure there are bike lanes on the Disraeli Freeway, once $91 million worth of repairs slated for 2008 and 2009 is completed.

Katz's finance-policy adviser said the cyclists will likely get their wish, at least in the short term.

Tentative repair plans for the Disraeli Freeway will see the 1.1-kilometre bridge and overpass widened from four to six lanes, with the outside space reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, the adviser said.

If traffic demands increase, those lanes will be converted into vehicle lanes, while cyclists and pedestrians will be diverted elsewhere, he said.

One way northeast-Winnipeg bike commuters could reach downtown without using the Disraeli Freeway would be a future trail connection between the south end of the Marconi Lane and a new trail slated for Old St. Boniface.