More than $700,000 in grant funding is being put towards a pilot section of the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail.
The rail trail team announced Thursday, July 29, that the ownership partners behind the project, the Splatsin, the Regional District of North Okanagan and the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, were awarded a $459,061 in COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream funding from the governments of B.C. and Canada.
The funding will be combined with a $250,000 grant received from the B.C. Ministry of Tourism in March 2021, and used to fund the construction of a pilot section of rail trail within City of Enderby and Splatsin territory.
According to a related media release, each of the partners are working with the rail trail technical team to develop standards for the pilot project. This includes vegetation restoration and landscaping, trail amenities and signage, as well as addressing invasive plants.
Construction of the pilot section of trail is expected to get underway this year.
The Community Capital Fundraising Campaign was set up to support the rail trail initiative, encouraging corporate and community donations, as many grants require a matching financial commitment to qualify.
All contributions are tax-deductible, and every dollar donated gets leveraged for grants and turns into more trail on the ground.
For more information or to donate, visit shuswapnorthokanaganrailrrail.ca/donate.
Read more: Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail pilot project to start this year
Read more: Grant funding moves Sicamous-to-Armstrong rail trail along
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