Cycle 16 expects to complete the first phase of their feasibility study on a bike trail from Smithers to Telkwa by the end of the year.
“We have to paint a clear enough for [our stakeholders] so they understand what we’re talking about so they can consider whether they want to be involved or not,” said Cycle 16’s Tony Harris. “We feel we’re getting close to being able to present that document to them.”
The first phase looks at the Smithers to Laidlaw Road part of the trail.
Cycle 16 has chosen to start from Smithers and work their way to Telkwa because more private land owners on that side have given permission for the trail to cut along their properties. Harris said at last Monday’s Telkwa council meeting that he is hoping property owners closer to Telkwa that aren’t convinced of the trail yet will see the vision and hop on, or the Ministry of Transportation will give them a variance and allow them to create the trail closer to the highway if need be.
“The highways want the trail to be nine meters clear of the fog line,” Harris told The Interior News. “In some cases we only have seven meters so we need two meters.”
A feasibility study is “analysis of how successfully a project can be completed, accounting for factors that affect it such as economic, technological, legal and scheduling factors.”
“We’ve got pretty good support from the highways, pretty good support from the Regional District — although [Telkwa councillor] Brad [Layton], [Smithers Mayor] Taylor [Bachrach] and [RDBN Area A director] Mark [Fisher] had to fight for that — pretty good support from Smithers. We feel it is a robust project, everyone we talk to seems like it is a good idea. We are forging ahead, we are getting tired but we are still forging ahead,” Harris explained at Telkwa council.
Who will maintain it?
Another concern is maintenance of the trail once it’s completed.
Harris said Cycle 16 can’t own the trail, thus it will need to be owned and ultimately maintained by either the Ministry of Transportation or by the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako. Cycle 16 has been working with both throughout the process of creating the trail.
The Ministry of Transportation provides financial assistance to create or upgrade cycling infrastructure with its BikeBC program. Cycle 16’s trail would be eligible for funding once it’s ready to be constructed. BikeBC covers up to 75 per cent of the cost of construction for communities with a population of 15,000 or less like Smithers and Telkwa.
Maintenance is typically not funded under the BikeBC program Bulkley-Stikine Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure district manager Carl B. Lutz said. The Ministry has not made a decision regarding the maintenance of the trail.
“It seems to me that [the Ministry of Transportation] should be managing [the trail] — it is a transportation system,” Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako director Mark Fisher said. “We’re going to be advocating that they do that moving forward but we’ll see where that goes. For now we’re working in partnership with the Ministry of Transportation and Cycle 16 to make sure everybody is on the same page.”
If the Ministry decides not to maintain the trail, the Regional District may have to take up that responsibility.
“We don’t actually have a recreation department or a maintenance department,” Fisher said. “We would be partnering with Cycle 16 but if Cycle 16 dissolves, for example, then the Regional District would still be on the hook.”
The project has gotten this far thanks to support from the Rotary Club of Smithers and a pair of grants the group received from the Northern Health’s Active Communities program and the BC Rural Dividend, Harris said.
Cycle 16 trail society partnered with the Village of Telkwa to get a $60,000 grant from Northern Health’s Active Communities program for engineering drawings and website development last year.
“Telkwa has always been a very strong partner in this process,” Harris said. “This project was initially started by the Village of Telkwa 20 years ago … it got to a certain point but then it didn’t seem like it was possible and it dissipated.”
Northern Health’s Active Communities program funds projects that provide access to physical activity for individuals and families in communities across the province.
Cycle 16 received a $10,000 grant from the BC Rural Dividend in February to develop detailed engineering drawings. The program funds projects that create long-term local employment for rural communities with a population under 25,000.
The next phase of the feasibility study will look at a bridge crossing Highway 16 just beyond Laidlaw road. The final phase will look at the portion of the trail that covers the bridge to Telkwa.
Cycle 16 is organizing a mass ride from the Smithers Farmer’s Market out along Highway 16 and back on June 2 to mark the end of Bike to Work Week.