City Moving Forward with Exploratory Work on $1.2 Million Trail

The city will be moving forward on exploratory work on an un-budgeted $1.2 million trail linking Rotary Centennial Trail to the Canyon Creek/Heron Crossing neighbourhoods. (File photo)

A $1.2 million multi-use trail proposal that’s been bouncing between city committees and council for the past year will be lobbed over to Cypress County to have particulars hashed out for how or if the project should be completed.

The proposal would connect 22 homes in the Heron Crossing/Canyon Creek neighbourhoods to Desert Blume and link with the South Boundary Road multi-use trail.

Monday’s council meeting saw overwhelming support by council for further exploratory work on the project with a resolution inviting the rural community to help fund the trail Cypress County next month.

The resolution’s sponsor, Coun. Shila Sharps, stressed the initiative shouldn’t be viewed as a commitment to build the trail.

“I want to be. This is just to see if there is an option. It’s not to commit to anything,” she told fellow councillors Monday.

“If the working group comes up with there is no good reasonable source to do this, that’s fine too.”

Heron Crossing/Canyon Creek are considered leapfrog communities, built out of line with development principles. The subject communities would link with city infrastructure at developer’s expense once gap neighbourhoods are built out. In this case, the gap community Cimmaron includes trail linkages within its area structure plan.

Despite that, Sharps stated the city has an obligation to leapfrog communities to provide services and the idea that residents pay for a multi-use trail through a local improvement tax was balked at.

The current trailhead for the Rotary Centennial pathway near Desert Blume. (File photo)

The lone councillor objecting to the move was Coun. Alison Van Dyke who focused on the value for taxpayers’ money that will impact so few residents.

“It’s a $1.2 million project for 22 houses. And even if Cypress County were to cover half of that cost, that’s still $600,000,” said Van Dyke. “If we paid for all of it, it would be over $54,000 per house for putting that trail into those houses and if we are only paying half of that, it would still be over $25,000 per household that we would be incurring costs.”

She stressed that’s city taxpayer money that council is responsible for managing.

“I would be flayed alive in this city if I approved a budget amendment of even half of that amount for 22 households,” said Van Dyke.

She also highlighted the city’s own formula for prioritizing such projects which has the Heron Crossing/Canyon Creek trail at the bottom of the list.

City staff have recommended against building the trail, noting other neighbourhoods have sidewalk and trail gaps that require addressing for safety concerns for larger numbers of residents.

A survey of over 700 residents which formed part of the city’s current proposed Transportation Master Plan, and included pedestrian and trail infrastructure priorities, broke down respondents from different neighbourhoods.

No respondents came from Canyon Creek/Heron Crossing neighbourhoods.

The Transportation Master Plan will be before council for a public hearing later this year.