A pile of ripped up rails at the Hardy Road level crossing in Kelowna.
(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)
March 04, 2016 - 6:00 AM
OKANAGAN - You can help shape the development of the 47 kilometre Okanagan Rail Trail at a series of open house meetings.
Team project manager Andrew Gibbs says in a media release a public consultation would be used during design and construction of the first bare-bones phase and during later development of the trail.
Buying the abandoned rail corridor has left some of the partners in the deal unable to contribute anything beyond the cost of basic construction in the short term, Gibbs added.
Gibbs says the initial phase will be a crushed gravel trail with road crossings, signage and barriers providing a basic level safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
The corridor is currently undergoing remedial work and environmental clean-up by CN Rail and its contractors.
The $22-million purchase of the rail corridor (another $28 million was given to CN in the form of a charitable receipt) was made jointly by Kelowna, Lake Country, North Okanagan Regional District and the provincial government, Gibbs says.
The open houses all run from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. beginning Monday, March 14 at the Oyama Community Hall, 15710 Oyama Rd., March 15 at Parkinson Recreation Centre, 1800 Parkinson Way, March 16 at Winfield Memorial Hall, 10130 Bottom Wood Lake Rd. and March 17 at the Coldstream Municipal Hall, 9901 Kalamalka Rd.
For more Okanagan Rail Trail stories click here.
To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016