Hikers and skiers on the Tantramar Outdoor Club trails off Walker Road might have been surprised to see tree cutting happening on the site this week near the trail head.
CHMA called up TOC co-president Karin Aurell Wednesday afternoon to find out more about what’s going on:
The cutting is part of a plan years in the works, says Aurell, to build a parking lot near the trailhead to help reduce on road parking congestion and improve traffic safety at the busy spot.
“It is probably a little bit shocking for people who show up there who don’t already know what’s going on,” said Aurell on Wednesday. “So apologies for that.”
“We’ve been talking for several years about the fact that the parking area by the Crooked Tree Trail is dangerous,” said Aurell, “with a mix of lots and lots of cars parking, people running around, dogs running around, and big dump trucks coming from the quarries.”
The town of Tantramar agrees. Active Living Director Matt Pryde told CHMA in January, “it’s been a safety issue for quite a few years now with larger trucks going through there and cars parked all along the street.” This year, the town has plans to remedy the situation with a parking lot.
Aurell says there’s been lots of conversation between the TOC and town staff. “It all resulted in a final meeting with John Eppell, Matt Pryde and Todd Cole out on the site, where we decided that we would do sort of the smallest footprint parking lot we could get away with,” said Aurell. That means “cutting down as few trees as possible, while still providing parking with a designated entrance and exit onto Walker road for about 20 cars.”
Though construction of the gravel lot won’t happen till later in the year, town staff are planning to cut trees this winter in order to avoid nesting season for birds.
The new gravel lot will be on the Crooked Tree Trail side of Walker Road, and run parallel to the road. “The current little parking pocket by the Crooked Tree Trail is going to be the exit,” said Aurell. The lot will extend toward the highway, with a single row of cars facing the ditch.
Aurell says this winter’s skiers should be aware of the tree cutting, which could be very close to the Crooked Tree Trail. In fact, when it comes time to build the lot, the trail will likely need to be rerouted slightly.
“Our hope was that we could keep it the way it is,” said Aurell, but with the need for space for clearing snow, “there’s a small rerouting that will probably have to happen before next fall,” said Aurell.
The Tantramar Outdoor Club maintain upwards of 15 kilometres of cross country ski trails, as well as trails dedicated to hiking and snowshoeing, all accessible from the Walker Road ‘reservoir gate’ trailhead where the parking lot will be built. The group relies on volunteer labour, membership fees and grants to expand and maintain the trail system.
