Developing Prince George Trails, One Step At A Time
Monday, August 08, 2005 08:30 PM
Prince George loves trails
67% of households use trails, and recent studies show there were 700 thousand trail visits.
Trail use is the single most popular "sports activity" in Prince George.
Notes: We compare with Red Deer when it comes to population and number of trails, but we are well below the normal when it comes to trail maintenance. Most communities spend about a $1,000.00 per kilometer of trails, Prince George spends about $200.00 per kilometer.
We have 85 kilometers of trails in Prince George, but there are hopes for more. Priorities include upgrading of the Heritage River Trail ( about a million dollars worth of upgrades needed) development of at least some of the 60 kilometers of The Nechako Ridge System of informal trails off Pidherny Road.
The Master Plan called for 131 kilometers of trails, and a recent survey indicated respondents would be willing to pay higher taxes to develop and maintain trails, but at this point, the focus is trying to develop partnerships to come up with a realistic development plan that will be affordable and achieveable.
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Posted by: rock on August 10 2005 1:39 PM
My concern is that the city want to spend a million on the River Front trail dowtown which is not where the population that uses trails live, its in the mill fallout zone, and is not considered a safe area with its proximity to the downtown trades. Also the reason it will cost a million dollars is because they want paved trails that are expensive to build and maintain.
I would much rather see rustic trails like Forest for the World along places like Cranbrook Hill Crest connecting lookout points, as well as North Nechako Ridge.
A rustic trail does not cost a lot to maintain and you can build 10 times as much as you can with a paved trail. Rustic trails are what the tourists to PG would come to see. Also once a rustic trail is in place, people then have access to the view points and can make informed decisions as to what parts of the trail system need to be updated later to paved trails.
As for funding this, I have a plan, but the provincial government shot me down over their protectionist stance on the Olympics, even though the two are completely unrelated. Part of that plan involved getting the commmunity to sponsor parts of the trails and things such as park benches and lookout decks. Sponsors could range from local business to memorials of local residents.
Time Will Tell