Construction equipment working on the trail along Highway 97.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Trail of the Okanagans Society
December 19, 2024 - 6:00 AM
The most technically challenging section of a cycling trail, that would run from Sicamous in the north to Osoyoos in the south, is under construction in Peachland after decades of effort to make it happen.
Janice Liebe is the president of Trail of the Okanagans, a volunteer group pushing for the completion of that section of the trail. The goal is to connect the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail to the Okanagan Rail Trail and extend it further south to Osoyoos.
The District of Peachland started construction on a section of trail along Drought Road connecting Peachland to West Kelowna earlier this year. The district is spending $400,000 and it got another $776,000 from federal and provincial grants for the trail.
“The section that connects Goats Peak Park to Peachland... was first proposed in the year 2000,” Liebe said. “We're absolutely thrilled. This is probably the most technically difficult piece of trail to build anywhere between Sicamous and Osoyoos.”
The 370 kilometre bike trail from Sicamous to Osoyoos is a monumental project with a long way to go still, but Liebe said the stretch along Drought Road could be ready to ride by the summer.
The trail is taking so long because it covers a lot of distance, but also because there are various levels of government involved.
“We're trying to connect over a hundred pieces of trail. And some places we have to build them like in Peachland. So we spent about a year just trying to map out the trail, where it could possibly go by reading all the official plans,” she said. “We then spent another year talking to all of the areas that had authorities who had jurisdictions. So that's two regional governments, seven communities and three First Nations.”
A map of where the new section of trail will be.
Image Credit: Trail of the Okanagans Society
READ MORE: Construction of Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail underway ahead of public hearing
The Okanagan Rail Trail from Coldstream to Kelowna was built on top of an old rail line running along Kalamalka Lake, which made construction relatively simple, but this new stretch would extend the trail where there isn't an old railway to serve as a base so it required a creative engineering solution.
“What they did is they used what's called a taco fill. It's essentially layers of compacted gravel that are wrapped into textile fabric, so it allows a steeper grade than the natural grade,” she said. “It provides a greater width at the top of the slope.”
She said the envisioned trail would be a boon for tourism.
“If we want to boost tourism from the international cycle tourism groups, they're looking for longer trails that give them at least three days of riding and about 50 to 70 kilometres of riding a day, so it puts us right in that sweet spot,” she said. “You can imagine already they're talking about tourist groups taking people up to the District Wine Village and back to Osoyoos in a day.”
The bike trail would help locals who enjoy riding and businesses along the route since cyclists enjoy riding in cooler weather in the spring and fall.
“If you talk to the owner of the general store in Oyama, he actually wasn't in favour of the trail going through Oyama when they built the Okanagan Rail Trail. But he's now a big supporter of it because he's seen his business grow... he sees the busyness for two months either side of summer,” she said.
Liebe said there was a worn path along Drought Road because people have already been riding bicycles along there.
“There were people who were actually bushwhacking a piece of trail from Peachland over to West Kelowna because they were commuting. And it was only like six inches wide with big rocks on each side,” she said. “That demonstrates how important it is to put in this safe infrastructure. I think we'll see a real boost in cycling as we connect communities.”
Click here to learn more about the Trail of the Okanagans Society.
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