Okanagan Rail Trail ridership soars amid improvements
The holiday weekend wasn’t as wet as predicted so the Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen cycled the Grand Kelowna Triangle and on Tuesday, the Sheriff cycled the Okanagan Rail Trail from Woodsdale Road in Lake Country to Coldstream and back.
The Grand Kelowna Triangle is a three-sided route involving the rail trail, Mission Creek Greenway and waterfront from Lakeshore Road to Sunset Drive Park.
Tuesday’s Okanagan Rail Trail outing with a friendly Meetup group went past two trail improvement projects underway.
The Regional District of North Okanagan hired Paul Dyck Excavating to do site enhancements at kilometre 3.7 near Coldstream.
Dyck, who was spreading topsoil on the new berm Tuesday, expected to be finished his preliminary work within a day or two. That will be followed by planting native vegetation. Dyck is also handling trail maintenance for RDNO.
Paul McFarlane Contracting was building a berm and pull-off area at Ribbleworth Falls on the east side of Wood Lake in Lake Country. He, too, expected to be done this week with planting to follow.
The enhanced native plantings, seating and viewing areas as well as habitat features are being developed using environmentally responsible design and construction to engage and educate trail users about the natural environment, culture and history of the area, said Karen Miller, Lake Country’s communications officer.
In Kelowna, the Okanagan Rail Trail counter at Spall Road tallied a record number of cyclists on Monday of the May long weekend, said Matt Worona, the city’s active transportation coordinator.
The counter, which can differentiate between pedestrians and cyclists, counted 1,320 cyclists, the largest number since the counter was activated on March 22, 2016. “That’s pretty incredible,” commented Worona. Of course, some of those could be coming and going, so counted twice.
Generally, the number of pedestrians and cyclists counted on the ORT is up 50 per cent from last year, mainly because the paved recreational trail is longer and has more access points.
The city is installing porta-potties and garbage containers at the Bulman Road/UBC Okanagan overpass and Sexsmith Road in addition to making plans to pave the newest section from Gordon Drive to Richter Street (and a small section on Manhattan Drive), said Worona. Removing the railway ties, remediation and construction of the new section was a priority since the $700,000 cost was covered by community raised funds that had to be spent by a certain deadline.
The rough gravel surface was not done to the same packed-surface standard as the Lake CountryColdstream section of the rail trail because paving is planned. A consultant has just completed a report on the best way to connect the new section with the Rails with Trails section (named when rails were still there) on Clement Avenue. The city may have to purchase a small piece of the property on the northwest corner of Gordon Drive and Clement Avenue for a sidewalk and paved trail so paving the entire stretch may not happen until later in the year or 2020.
The city is also planning to install way-finding signs. The signs will include kilometre markers and the distance to different destinations.
Several readers have suggested alternatives to get from the Okanagan Rail Trail to the Greenway. Most use busy Dilworth Drive and Springfield Road,
Richard Andrews recently suggested staying on the Okanagan Rail Trail and connecting to a trail beside Mill Creek that comes out beside the old Grouse River building, now Kelowna Tickets/Kelowna Actors Studio. Then it’s a short way down Enterprise Way to Highway 33, across Highway 97 to Ziprick Road, which ends directly in front of Mission Creek Regional Park.
Hugh Carmichael says it is safer to go Enterprise Way to Banks Road, then turn onto Baron Road and follow it to Ziprick Road.
The city’s Worona notes there are three bridges across Mill (Kelowna) Creek in the Enterprise Park area, and the city is looking at the possibility of using Dilworth, Cooper or Leckie for an rail trail-Greenway connector.
In 2020, the city is planning a new connection to tie the rail trail into cycling paths leading to the Rutland town centre.
***** Vernon outdoor enthusiast Brian Sutch and several friends hiked the Rose Valley area in West Kelowna on Tuesday “from the north end to the top of the hill on the east side at the south end, and over the top and back round via the Yellowbells and Forest trails. We hit the flowers just right as this was my sixth or seventh
visit and I cannot remember seeing a display like today.”
They also saw an unusual and curious phenomenon at south end of Rose Valley Reservoir.
“There was a considerable upsurge of water bubbling and swirling the surface of the lake,” he said, asking if this is a natural spring or perhaps water piped down to the reservoir.
No, the City of West Kelowna utilities department says. It is an aerator designed to add oxygen to the domestic water supply.
***** Someone recently spotted a sign at one of the trailheads for MyraBellevue Provincial Park saying: ‘No e-bikes.’ That was news to the Sheriff who investigated further.
“BC Parks doesn’t have policy on e-bikes yet. Electric bikes may be still restricted in BC Parks but a policy is not finalized at this point,” responded Wendy Pope, area supervisor in the South Okanagan area for BC Parks.
BC Recreation Sites and Trails’ policy is unless otherwise restricted, electric bike use is a permitted activity on the 600 trails managed by Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
Any decision by a district recreation officer to restrict or prohibit a class of electric bike will be based on considerations of safety, environmental impact and user experience, and will normally result from an engagement process with interested stakeholders.
The Myra Canyon multi-use trail is part of the Trans Canada Trail network, but the not-for-profit organization does not own or operate The Great Trail, said Jane O’Flaherty, communications adviser for the Trans Canada Trail.
“Therefore, we do not decide which activities or vehicles are permitted on individual sections of our network,” she said.
“Since the impacts of e-bikes vary depending on the model, features, etc., the decision whether or not to allow e-bikes can only be taken at the local level.”
*****
While we’re on the subject of The Great Trail, trail volunteers in the Boundary region are organizing three spring clean-up days.
The Trails to the Boundary Society, which maintains sections of The Great Trail through the West Boundary, will prepare for another busy trail season 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, and on June 9 and 23 at the same times.
Participants will meet at the Beaverdell General Store and carpool to worksites. All participants will be provided with lunch and snacks throughout the day.
Volunteers should bring work gloves, appropriate clothing and footwear, water, bug spray, sunscreen and hats. The spring cleanups will go ahead rain or shine.
“Many hands make light work so we hope people will be keen to pitch in,” said Ciel Sander, the society’s trail co-ordinator.
To get involved, contact Sander at trailstotheboundary@gmail.com or at 250-444-7547.
Under its new Spring Clean-Up Grant Program, TCT has granted a total of $165,000 to 171 trail groups to spruce up their sections of the trail, said Trisha Kaplan, TCTís trail development manager for Western and Northern Canada.
***** Friends of Kalamoir Regional Park will hold its annual Community Pancake Breakfast 911 a.m. next Saturday on the beach near the lower parking area of Kalamoir Regional Park at the end of Collens Hill Road in West Kelowna. For a donation of $3, you’ll receive pancakes, sausage and beverage served by the members of the Westbank Lions Club.
At 10 a.m., you can join a park interpreter for a guided one-and-ahalf hour loop hike through the park.
J.P. Squire, aka the Hiking, Biking, Kayaking and Horseback Riding Sheriff, is a retired reporter. Email: jp.squire@telus.net.