A wider, harder, and smoother trail system is being proposed for St. Stephen.
Future St. Stephen President Richard Fulton calls the Coastal Link Trails group a provincial initiative through a volunteer group, which is tasked with building a trail system from St. Stephen to Saint John.
He says they had a consultant study done within the last year, laying out the benefits and a primary route.
“The good news is, that primary route goes right through St. Stephen, and their objective is to link to communities, not by pass the communities, which is great news.”
Fulton tells us they formed a small committee in St. Stephen to see over the section of trail which fell into their mandate, which runs along the waterfront, from the Ferry Point Bridge on Milltown Blvd to the old Axe Factory near Dennis Stream.
They wanted to discover what the trail system could be, or should be, in St. Stephen, and felt it needed to be upgraded and customized for its users.
“So the specific proposal was to upgrade that trail along the waterfront, and improve and increase the size of the surface, hard pack, whether it be asphalt or hard pack of some sort.”
He says the trail is mainly a hiking and biking trail, but they felt it was important to make the trail more usable for everybody.
“We want it to be wheelchair accessible, and we know a lot of folks use it with strollers for kids, so it needs to be smooth and hard for those purposes. All of the trail is not in that kind of condition. And it needs to be wide enough so it can be shared, so you’re not running somebody over with your bike or wheelchair while they’re hiking.”
He says they are now gathering feedback from the public before bringing the proposal to Town Council in March.
As for the cost, Fulton says since it is within town limits, it would need to be approved by Council before going ahead.
He says Coastal Link Trails Inc. also has funds available that may be able to pay for part or all of the upgrades.
“So there has to be an engineering study and an estimate done to understand exactly what’s possible and what it would cost for our route, and then the town and the Coastal Link Trails partner in that and say ‘Let’s do it, let’s make it happen.'”
If you would like to have your say on the trail upgrades, you can fill out the questionnaire HERE.