Sackville’s latest trail will have parking access by the end of the year.
In a special meeting on Monday, Tantramar council approved hiring Bowser’s Construction to build a small parking lot on Charlotte Street at the trail entrance for the new Quarry Park trail.
Pryde says the lot will hold five to six cars and give access to the new crushed gravel path which leads to a newly constructed bridge and viewing platform looking down into the quarry.
The 300 metre path in from Charlotte Street provides an “accessible option, so that people can come in and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the quarry property,” says Pryde. The rest of the roughly one kilometre loop is “meant to be kind of a wilderness, rough trail,” says Pryde.
Tantramar’s public works department was originally slated to do the work on the parking lot, but Pryde told council Monday that due to unpredictable weather slowing down other responsibilities, they are no longer able to complete the work before the end of the year. So in order to cover the expense under this year’s budget, staff decided to seek quotes from local construction companies. Bowsers came back with the lowest bid of $16,260 plus HST.
Pryde told council he has secured additional grants from the province and Medavie Blue Cross that nearly double the approved $65,000 municipal budget for the project.
In the spring, Pryde says there’s more work to be completed. “We need to get the interpretive signs designed and installed. We still need to buy picnic tables. There’s still trail work to do,” he says.
The former sandstone quarry has been used as a wilderness getaway for decades, and when the town acquired the property from Mount Allison in 2023, the Tantramar Outdoor Club’s Richard Elliot spearheaded the initiative to invest in the trail.
Tantramar Outdoor Club volunteers are still involved doing trail cutting and maintenance work, which includes getting rid of as much invasive multiflora rose as possible. The Tantramar Heritage Trust and Chignecto Naturalists are also involved, consulting on information for interpretive signage.
Pryde says the new trail will not be part of the municipality’s winter maintenance plan, so once the snow comes, it will remain less accessible until spring.
