Squamish's Corridor Trail received a boost last week with the news that the District of Squamish (DOS) will receive $418,000 in federal gas-tax money to keep the project moving forward.
The money, part of $1.84 million handed out for projects in the Sea to Sky Corridor through a gas-tax grant secured by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, will help DOS officials move three segments of the trail closer to completion: the Brackendale connection linking to the Sea to Sky Trail, the Harris Road-to-Garibaldi Way segment and paving of the Clarke Drive-to-Valley Drive section.
Christina Moore, DOS communications manager, wrote in an email to The Chief the $418,000 won't be enough to complete all three sections, so council will have to decide how to prioritize the work. Construction on those sections of trail is to take place next summer, Moore said.
This fall, DOS officials have been paving and upgrading some sections of the trail, including a two-kilometre portion from the Adventure Centre to Brennan Park. The latter project came with a $160,000 price tag.
The new funding helps the community move closer to completion of a paved commuter pathway from Brackendale to Valleycliffe, Mayor Rob Kirkham said in a statement issued on Friday (Oct. 12).
When complete, the trail will offer residents of all neighbourhoods the ability to safely and conveniently travel by non-motorized means throughout the area, with the goal to ultimately reduce vehicle traffic on roads and enhance the livability of our community, he said.
After next summer's work is done, the trail won't officially be considered complete as some work and possibly including lighting on some segments will remain, Moore said.
The $1.84 million secured by the SLRD is being allocated to nine projects in the corridor between Squamish and Lillooet, including $49,000 for upgrades to the water well system at Furry Creek. Only capital projects (not programs and services) qualified for federal gas-tax funding, and the projects also had to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or result in cleaner air or water and be large in scale or regional in impact, SLRD officials said.
Athletes could be training and playing on Squamish's new artificial turf sports field by early November as work on the new field at Brennan Park was set to be completed as early as this week.
Greig Garland, DOS director of capital projects, wrote in an email on Monday (Oct. 15) that installation of the synthetic turf could be completed in a couple days, weather permitting. He said installation of sub-drainage, pouring of the concrete side curbing, installation of the aggregate base and installation of fencing was completed by Oct. 1. That cleared the way for installation of the synthetic turf by WorldWide Turf.
Planning for a field commissioning event is now in the works, with the date still to be confirmed, Garland wrote.
