Antigonish town councillors have voted to move forward with an active transportation trail.
The two-point-six-kilometre corridor would run from West St. across St. Ninian St. to Church St. across Brierly Brook bridge to Columbus Field to the top of Main St. to the Antigonish Landing; the total cost is roughly $4 million.
Councillors voted 5-2 in favour of the project during April’s regular meeting Monday night.
After, Laurie Boucher, the town’s mayor, said town officials heard a lot about active transportation during public engagement sessions.
Boucher said it’s the starting point of what could be a multi-layered project, with the option to add other components to the trail later.
“It does look at a broader picture of active transportation,” she said. “What it does for our town is it establishes the main ‘spine’, which is the main structure.”
The project is contingent on provincial and federal funding; town officials would contribute a little more than $1.1 million, with the rest coming from provincial and federal officials, if approved.
Willie Cormier and Sean Cameron were the two councillors who voted against the project; their concerns expressed during the meeting mostly focused on the cost.
Boucher said this will be the most expensive phase of the project if they decide to expand in the future.
“Because it goes through town the way it does- across St. Ninian St. and West St.- it has to be the safest,” she said. “It’s probably going to be the most expensive part of the active transportation plan.”
Boucher said the timeline is based on if and when funding from the other levels of government comes through, but planning for the project is expected to be done through 2021 into early 2022.
She said the goal is to have the trail finished by 2025.
