Road warriors
Group ready to launch campaign to reopen Louisbourg-Gabaraus road
They are warriors for community development and they’ve set their sights on getting the Fleur-de-Lis Trail fully opened and repaired.
The Friends of Gabarus Society has five directors dedicated to community development and community sustainability. One initiative they were an important part of was getting the Gabarus seawall repaired.
Now they want to get the Louisbourg-Gabarus road, which is the end of the Fleurde-Lis Trail reopened. Then they hope to start fighting to have the whole trail repaired.
“This has been on the back burner for a while, but we had to get the seawall fixed first,” said Tim Menk, one of the directors of the group.
“One of the things the community has been deprived of by the closing of this road, in my opinion, is a better chance of sustainability because there’s so little traffic on the Fleur-de-Lis Trail.”
A 2008 study done on the benefits of repairing and reopening all of the trail showed that out of 1,700 tourists interviewed, 60 per cent said they would use the trail if they could.
Unlike the 2008 study, the Friends of Gabarus Society wants to see the old road, between Oceanview to Kennington Cove roads, cleared and repaired instead of building a new one.
This plan reduces costs associated with reopening the last part of the trail and reduces chances undiscovered historical artifacts, like English soldier camps, could be harmed.
This also keeps the trail going along the coast, something that has been proven to attract tourists, according to Menk.
Menk and two other directors, Gene Kersey and Heather Hayes, all have research and community development experience. They use these skills to write the proposals, gather historical data and inspire community members to get involved in the causes they take on.
“It’s about empowering a future of choice,” said Kersey, who was an environmental engineer before retiring.
“We hope to be spark plugs for communities to see the possibility of becoming involved around issues that influence what might benefit their communities.”
Menk, Kersey and Hayes would like to see the road reopened this summer or fall, even if at first it is a trail for bikes and walkers. Then they would continue working to get the road open to vehicles as well.
“What’s important, I think, is that this is the No. 1 priority of (Friends of Gabarus) until it has an end date. And we don’t take no,” said Hayes, who works
in international community development.
“We don’t like the word stop, we don’t take no for an answer,” added Menk.
The Friends of Gabarus Society is also planning to lobby the federal government to give up ownership of the land the
road is on. They would like land ownership to be given to the provincial government.
In April 2016, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality voted to support this change of ownership.
The group has started working on a Powerpoint presentation
they will email to government officials and plan to present this at a public meeting to be held in February.
They are also planning a letter-writing campaign, like they did for the seawall restoration project.
People wanting to know
more about the Friends of Gabarus Society or follow the progress of the fight to reopen the Louisbourg-Gabarus road can do so on their Facebook page, Friends of Gabarus Nova Scotia.