One Vernon councillor thinks a trail to a provincial park needs to be built and soon.
Brian Quiring wants to see a trail built to Ellison Provincial Park for cyclists and walkers, calling the road to the park one of the most used in the city, and also completely treacherous.
“Nothing ever happens with it,” said Quiring, during a report from long-range planner Rob Miles Monday morning about Vernon’s trail network and how to integrate with the new Okanagan Rail Trail.
“There’s so much development and construction out there, millions and millions of dollars on Okanagan Landing and Eastside roads, and no upgrades to the roads and cycling shoulder.”
Quiring said even with the holiday Monday’s sub-minus-10 temperatures, the amount of vehicles he saw going to Ellison Park with bicycles attached was “ridiculous.”
“I’d like us to consider getting a path out there,” he said. “I know there’s issues with right-of-ways, and where it gets tricky is where the road narrows and there are houses on both sides of the road. It’s a well-used park, and now we have (new green space and lake access at) Camp Hurlburt. We need to address some of the issues around the community, not just for the commuters.”
Miles’ report gave an update on how Vernon is hoping to integrate its existing trail network into the new Okanagan Rail Trail.
He said cycling tourism is a growth industry and recent rail acquisitions have created a trail network between Sicamous and Osoyoos.
“The route is near hotels and it goes through the city centre,” said Miles.
“The recent rail acquisitions between Coldstream and Kelowna, and Armstrong and Sicamous, really do put Vernon at the centre of what could be a very long, large cycling corridor throughout the Okanagan Valley, and Vernon would be connected to larger regional and national trail networks.”
Wayfinding signage, i.e., signs with arrows indicating where certain trails and attractions are located, would also be beneficial.
Coun. Catherine Lord, a Landing resident who agreed with Quiring’s assertion, said signage should delve into Vernon’s long history.
“I attended the Tourism Vernon open house and a consultant presented on work he’d done on trying to identify what makes Vernon unique. His big thing was history,” said Lord. “They really need to take that into account.”
Coun. Juliette Cunningham also suggested an interjurisdictional committee being set up for the Okanagan Rail Trail to look at acquiring, and acquiring soon, a domain name that will help draw visitors.
