Pedway group says non-motorized trail is key to funding, but ATV riders want to share access
Sackville’s portion of the Trans Canada Trail was the belle of the ball at Tantramar council’s last regular meeting, with two public presentations asking council to move ahead with plans that would see the trail developed or maintained in different ways.
The Tantramar Pedway Group and Quad NB each put in requests to Tantramar Council, some of which were at cross purposes.
Christina DeHaas and Jeff MacKinnon represented the Tantramar Pedway Group, and told council they’d been working for 15 years on a plan to erect a pedestrian and bike friendly connection across the TransCanada highway, where it bisects the Trans Canada Trail.
Currently, the group has secured a private donation of $1 million to put towards the pedway project, and also has a commitment from Algonquin Bridge, a division of the AIL Group, to build the project at cost, which was estimated at about $3 million a year ago.
DeHaas says other funding possibilities are available, but there’s a commitment needed from the town. “The way to move forward is for council to direct staff to explore the capital funding opportunities that leverage this million dollar commitment that we currently have,” said DeHaas.
Dehaas and the Pedway Group are asking the town to take over ownership of the pedway project, including assigning staff to look into funding opportunities, committing to maintaining and insuring it, and also entering into a land use agreement with the Department of Natural Resources, who own the Trans Canada Trail lands.… Continue