New Trails for Commuters

New mountain trail to connect Canmore, Lake Louise
www.cbc.ca/calgary

Outdoor enthusiasts will soon have a stunning nature trail to explore in Alberta that runs from Canmore to Lake Louise.

The federal government announced Tuesday afternoon that $6.75 million will be spent on building a new paved path through Banff National Park for hikers, cyclists and in-line skaters.

The Legacy Trail will run 26 kilometres from Canmore to the Bow Valley Parkway just west of the Banff town site, along the Trans-Canada Highway between the road and wildlife fence. The path will then join up with Highway 1A to Lake Louise.

Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who was at the Banff announcement, called the trail an environmentally friendly way to link the mountain towns.

The trail still needs to pass an environmental assessment, but work could begin this summer and finish in time for Banff's125th anniversary in the fall of 2010.

People who live in area say they're pleased the project that's been in works for years is going ahead. Local groups hope it will bring more tourists to the region.


'Cougar Commuter' gets rolling
Bike path to link cyclists to downtown
Posted By Hamish MacLean/hamish@canmoreleader.com


Construction could soon begin on a trail that will help those who live on the north side of Canmore get into town without their cars.

The “Cougar Commuter,” a $400,000 project to build a 2.5-metre wide commuter trail, a trail wide enough to allow two bicycles towing chariots to pass one another easily, is now taking shape. Construction could begin mid to late summer and then be ready for use by the fall.

As a green initiative the commuter trail is eligible for funds through the recently doubled, federal Gas Tax Fund.

Jamie Carpenter, parks and open space planner for the town, will be one of the hosts at an open house at Elizabeth Rummel School May 20 to welcome the public to have a look at the plan.

“We’ll be there to answer questions and to take some feedback to, but it’s pretty much planned and ready to go,” he said.

While he doesn’t expect to much controversy at the open house, he respects the fact that there are some in Canmore who may not see this as an entirely positive move by the town.

“It’s a change. It’s a change to a trail that a lot of people do use, and have used for many years,” he said. “And it’s adding a paved path. We really want to push the point that this is not the start of some effort of paving all the trails in town. We recognize that this is right along the highway, a big wide swath with cars and trucks blasting by if you’re a visitor to Canmore or you’re a resident who loves to get out and enjoy nature, you’re not going to go for your nature walk here.”

The trail in place now is not as fast or efficient as it could be, or should be, Carpenter said.

There is a commuter trail out to Three Sisters, but there is not the critical mass of people out there like there is in the Cougar Creek neighborhoods, he said, and so whether or not it really serves the same purpose as this trail could, is difficult to determine.

“There are 6,000 people living around there, this will be a commuter path,” Carpenter said. The system will also allow kids in the neighborhoods get to schools across the highway much more easily.

And this path is more of an extension of what exists along Palliser Trail up to Palliser Heights, he said, underscoring the town’s desire to not get into the business of paving paths around town.

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Carpenter said he hopes that the path could one day continue on and complete that “far-fetched” idea of a pathway connecting Canmore to Banff.

Patrick Sorfleet, assistant development planner, calls this trail an “arterial path” however. He said it was right in line with the nearly completed Community Sustainability Plan’s vision for Canmore.

“The intent is to move people off roads, and if you’re looking at the CSP’s priorities to move people first, or pedestrians first, cyclists second, cars third, this is an example of building pedestrian or cyclist infrastructure,” he said.

“This is clearly not a car path,” he joked. “And it’s interesting, especially because it’s, sort of, spidered into that whole neighborhood.

The plans show smaller paths that are off shoots into the residential blocks that the path passes. The now gravel short, connecting paths will also be paved to ensure year-round accessibility for residents.

Carpenter also seemed pleased with the direction of the plan. He noted that in the discussions surrounding 2007’s Trails Master Plan, that area was identified as the area most in need of an upgrade.

“It was a common theme among the people from this part of town who came to our open houses for the Trails Maser Plan: they really wanted to see upgrades to the trails that exist here currently,” Carpenter said.

At present the best option for cyclists, in the area that houses around half the town’s population, may be the steep hill running down alongside Benchlands Trail, which may appeal going down, but not as much for the return trip. The gentle incline of the planned commuter trail should make downtown more accessible for all cyclists.

Currently there is a standard crushed gravel trail from the bridge at Benchlands Trail for about 400 metres, at which point it turns to a mix of gravel and dirt trails that run up along the North side of Cougar Creek. There is also a berm that supports a single-track trail for cyclists, which will remain in place.

An inclusion that Carpenter said is important.

“We’re loathe to pave trails, the feedback that came out of the Trails Master Plan discussions was that we love our gravel trails and that nice ‘mountain feel,’” he said. “But we determined that there are certain places that it makes sense to have a paved pathway.”

The route that stretches along parallel to the Trans-Canada and then up Cougar Creek will be a year-round route.

The town will be doing counting both before and after the construction is complete, and Carpenter said he expects to see a sizeable increase in its use, not just among recreational users but from people who will use the trail as it is intended, a means to get to and from central Canmore.

The open house to see plans for the Cougar Creek commuter trail is May 20 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Elizabeth Rummel School.