$1 million donation for pedway withdrawn over lack of progress
An anonymous person who had pledged $1 million towards building a pedestrian bridge across the Trans Canada highway has withdrawn the funding promise in the wake of what a local volunteer calls a lack of action from the town of Tantramar. The citizens group that had been proponents of the project have also resigned.
Retired doctor Ross Thomas was one of those working on the pedway project on and off for fifteen years. He first presented the news of the potential $1 million donation to Sackville town council in December 2021.
Thomas says he doesn’t know the identity of the potential donor, but knows they first started expressing concerns about the future of the project about six months ago, shortly after Tantramar Pedway Group members Christina DeHaas and Jeff MacKinnon presented to the new Tantramar council in June 2023.
DeHaas and McKinnon requested that the new council commit to pursuing further capital funding for the project, and enter into an agreement with the province’s Department of Natural Resources to take over control of the Trans Canada Trail within town of Tantramar boundaries. DeHaas urged council to take swift action to make use of the $1 million donation, because “the window of opportunity is running out,” she said at the time.… Continue
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
‘It would be a game-changer’: meeting Tuesday to discuss possibilities for Trans Canada Trail, including pedway connection across highway
Hear this story on Tantramar Report:
It’s been called a ‘never-say-die’ project: a proposal for a pedestrian connection across the divided Trans Canada Highway where it bisects the Trans Canada Trail at the edge of the Sackville Waterfowl Park. The disconnect in the trail and the possible fix for it will be the topic of conversation in Sackville next week, at a meeting featuring trails coordinator for Plan 360, Marc Léger, and a group of citizens working on advancing the pedway project.
On Tuesday, December 6th, from 7pm to 9pm, Léger is inviting all possible stakeholders, including local business owners and current or would-be trail users, to the Sackville Visitor Information Centre to share and discuss ideas.
Léger works in connecting communities via greenway trails, by providing support to community groups and consulting with municipalities. He’s currently working on a 40 km trail connecting Moncton to Parlee Beach, which itself is part of the much larger Shoreline Trail, running from Alma to Shediac.
Léger says he sees lots of potential in the 66-kilometre segment of the Transcanada Trail between Sackville and Cape Tormentine.
“It goes through some really beautiful countryside,” says Léger, citing the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area. “It connects to several communities. It’s the perfect distance for cycle tourism. That 66 kilometers is a really nice sweet spot in terms of what the average cyclist might do in a day, both novice and more advanced cyclists.… Continue