Construction delays for Longview trail

Walkers in Longview will have to stick to the streets and dirt paths a little longer due to delays constructing the village’s Little New York Trail.

A wet summer, busy volunteers and other hurdles contributed to a later start to construct the $165,000, one-kilometre long trail along the ridge of the Highwood River. Work is expected to begin next month.

The eight-foot-wide pathway will run from the village’s outdoor rink, west along Highway 541 and south along the fence line west of Longview.

“It’s just been a comedy of errors,” said Michele Geistlinger, chairperson of the Longview Arts, Recreation and Community Society.

“It’s just been a few delays with first the weather and then getting everybody together at the same time.”

“Most of my volunteers that would be working on the ridge all work in construction and their busiest time is the summer. When we had good weather they had to do their own work.”

The barbed wire fence along the ridge was removed, surveyors staked the village’s property line and a chain-link fence was installed at the end of July, said Geistlinger.

“We had to wait for the village to get the surveying done on their property line,” she said. “It took quite a while to get the surveyor on.”

Geistlinger said the next step is to cut the sod where the trail will run, remove six to eight inches of soil and add pea gravel before laying the resin coat and glow pebbles.

“I know everybody is excited to see the trail go in,” she said. “What I’m hoping is we can start on the trail part of it maybe in mid-September. I don’t think it will take any more than a week or two once we get started on it. I’m hoping people can walk on it by October.”

Due to the delays, Geistlinger said the society will iron out details around where to install benches, garbage and smoking receptacles, dog bag stations and historical signage this winter and put them in place next spring for Canada’s 150th birthday.

During the next few weeks, Geistlinger said the society will combine a list of volunteers they will need to construct the pathway and post them on their website at [email protected]

“The excitement is building back up now,” she said. “As a board we are starting to get our energy and enthusiasm back as we are through the rotten rainy season, I hope. Hopefully September will be drier.”

The cost of the trail is covered by a series of donations including $10,000 from the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA), $35,000 from the Legacy Oil and Gas Community Association, $35,000 from the Daryl K. Seaman Canadian Hockey Fund Grant Program, $1,550 in community fundraisers and $83,446 from the Alberta Culture and Tourism Community Facility Enhancement Program.

The Little New York Trail was identified as a priority in the society’s Active Community Strategy, developed in 2013 through the ARPA.

Construction was to begin last summer, but was put on hold when the project wasn’t approved for provincial funding that was hoped to cover half the cost.

The trail will be open to walkers, joggers, cyclists, skateboarders, long boarders and rollerbladers and will be wide enough to allow for emergency vehicle access.