Money handed to Squamish for supporting the 2010 Olympic Games is being pushed uphill, literally.
In 2011, the Squamish Off-Road Trail Association (SORCA) received $30,000 of the $750,000 Sports Legacy Fund passed to the District of Squamish by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC).
Two weeks ago, that cash was put to use. SORCA hired a local company, Dreamworks Construction, to build a climbing route in the Diamond Head Road area, the association's vice-president Cliff Miller said. The aim of the new stretch is to get cycling traffic off Garibaldi Park Road, he said.
"It is probably the highest traffic mountain biking area in the valley," Miller said, noting the year the Half Nelson trail opened, it was used by 13,000 bikers.
So far, there have been no vehicle/bicycle incidents that Miller knows of, but it's time to separate the two streams, he said.
The trail was on the organization's to-do list for safety reasons, said Mike Nelson, SORCA's government liaison. The path is being constructed as an "easy climb," he said. It will travel 2.2 kilometres from Quest University to the bottom of Half Nelson. The trail is expected to be complete by the second week of May.
"In the future we have plans to take it to the top of Half Nelson and Powersmart," he said.
Municipal officials' Sports Legacy Fund decisions have been fraught with controversy. About $110,000 was earmarked for the Callaghan Winter Sports Club's Sports Legacy Park, a plan that has recently been held up by development fees. Half a million was put aside for the installation of an artificial turf soccer field.
On Sunday (April 15), SORCA is holding its second trail work party of the season, this time in Valleycliffe.
For more information email [email protected] or visit www.SORCA.ca.
