2 February 2007
Cities Apply for Funds to Build New Trail
Cranbrook British Columbia - The city councils of
Cranbrook and Kimberley have authorized staff to apply for funding to be able to proceed with plans to turn the CPR railway bed
connecting the two cities into a trail. The sources the cities will be trying to tap into are the Canada-BC Rural
Infrastructure Fund and the Strategic Priorities Fund. Money could also come from Local Motion, a program that was announced by BC
Premier Gordon Campbell at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) meeting last fall.
"Without the funding, we really can't afford to do the project," Kimberley Economic Development Officer Heather Hornoi
explains the importance of the grant applications. The proposed trail would lead from Kimberley all the way to Cranbrook and would be
about 26 kilometres long. At first glance, Cranbrook Mayor Ross Priest estimates the project would amount to a cost of just under $3
million. The cities will seek funding opportunities for the full amount, Priest says, but warns that at the end of the day there might
likely be some financial obligation for local governments.
The plan would be to have a paved, non-motorized path, Hornoi says and explains with less than three percent grade over
the entire trail, it would be accessible for users in wheelchairs.
This also works well with Kimberley's accessibility and inclusivity strategy. She adds it would also support the city's goal of having
people 20 percent more active by the year 2010.
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) has also given its support to the project. "Our Regional Growth Strategy supports
inter community recreation trails," explains RDEK Manager of Planning and Development Services Andrew McLeod. He points out the
Kimberley Rural Official Community Plan and a number of other planning documents support the initiative as well.
Several years ago, the RDEK Board of Directors had already passed a resolution to transform the railway line into a trail, if CPR ever
ceased operations. the Directors for the two affected Electoral Areas C and E are very supportive of the trail project at this time,
McLeod says. In a letter to the two cities, the RDEK supported their grant applications and consented to being named as a
co-applicant.
At this time, the rail line is still owned by CP Rail. It has been discontinued in the spring of 2006, says CPR Media Relations
Representative Ed Greenberg. The company will be giving the rail line to the local governments as soon as a detailed track
clean-up process has been completed. All rail ties, spikes and tracks will be removed as well as the track bed material.
Some preparation work has already been done, Greenberg states, but formal clean-up will start in
April.
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