ARICHAT: A planning company hired by the municipality is recommending upgrades to new trails and the expansion of existing routes.
UPLAND Planning and Design Planner and Partner Bruce Mans told the regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on Oct. 24 in Arichat that the company is finishing the final draft of the Richmond County Trails Strategy.
A draft strategy document was compiled after collecting and analyzing background data, conducting stakeholder interviews about a year ago, then hosting an online mapping tool called Social PinPoint last summer to gather community feedback, Mans said, noting the document was shared with council and the municipality for feedback in September.
“Since then, we’ve been incorporating the feedback we got into the final strategy,” he said.
Mans said trails generally offer “many environmental, economic, social, and health benefits for communities.”
“Trails are often seen as a symbol of quality of life for many people and for many communities,” he stated.
A typical walking trail has a one to 1.5 metre-wide foot path that can be used by walkers, pedestrians, or cross-country skiers and snowshoers in the winter, Man said. A multi-use trail is a wider and more accessible trail that is up to 3 metres in width that can be used by cyclists, horseback riders that are seen are barrier-free routes to be used by those with mobility devices, he noted.
A shared-use pathway, Mans said, allows motorized trail users, including ATVs and snowmobiles, while an OHV trail is more of a “back country trail that are exclusively used by off-highway vehicles.”
Less common types include water trails, Mans said, are worth considering in Richmond County due to the number of “great paddling routes.” He said mountain bike trails are another example of unique trail types.
The trails strategy includes five recommendations, Mans said, the first being trail upgrades and expansions, “which focuses on improving and expanding trails that already exist.”
“One big project that would fit this category is the St. Peter’s Coastal Trail,” he said.
One option is upgrading the trail and continuing it as a multi-use trail, which would prohibit motorized use but would be fully accessible, Mans noted. Another options is to make it a shared-use trail that would allow for motorized use, he said.
“It would also allow ATV groups to connect their networks and access services in St. Peter’s,” he said. “But this type of a trail wouldn’t be as accessible.”
A third option is based on the provincial government’s review of legislation surrounding OHV use on public roads, stated Mans.
“The province is currently working towards legislation that would allow OHV groups to use sections of the public right-of-way, as long as it meets certain standards like traffic volumes, traffic speeds, proper sight lines, etc.,” he said.
If the legislation is amended, possibly by the spring, Mans said that could provide more options.
“This could allow for an alternative option here in St. Peter’s where OHV groups could connect their networks and access services in St. Peter’s by a new trail that would run north of the village and connect onto Oban Road and Pepperell Street where they would use that road to get into town,” he said. “The same legislation could also be used to allow OHV users to potentially cross the (St. Peter’s) canal and access a lot of the OHV trails in the L’Ardoise area.”
Mans said the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables is deciding whether to hand over a letter of authority to a community group to proceed with that trail. He said the department is planning to hold consultations soon.
As for the Cap Auguet Eco-Trail, Mans said it “has really great potential” but needs upgrades since it hasn’t been maintained for the past decade.
“Now there’s a community group on Isle Madame that is in the process of signing a co-management agreement with the province to manage the Petit de Grat Provincial Park, and their main priority is to revitalize the trail and start promoting it to locals and visitors,” he stated.
Mans said Richmond County is home to an extensive OHV trail run by five different groups.
“But very few of them are actually connected with one another,” he noted. “All these groups really want to connect their networks so that they can extend their trips and access and share each other’s networks.”
Along with connecting trails and groups, the strategy proposes a new connector to link into the expansive Inverness County trail network, stated Mans.
“Which, if realized, would allow OHV users in Richmond County to connect into Inverness and Victoria counties, all the way up to the Cape Breton Highlands, which would have huge potential for them to, not only market their trails from a tourism point of view, but also to fundraise and host different types of events that could go longer distances,” he said.
Mans said the strategy is calling for new trail opportunities, but most are in the really “early, pre-planning phase.”
“For an example, there’s a community group in the West Bay area that is working with the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve to develop a network of trails in Richmond County that could eventually connect with a trail that would go completely around the lake,” he said. “If it is realized, it could be a really great tourism product that could attract hikers, from not only around the province, but potentially from around Atlantic Canada or even the world.”
Mans said another new trail development emerging is in the Irish Cove area where the Johnstown Community Development Association is in the early planning phase of developing a network of walking trails around the former Irish Cove quarry site.
Both stakeholders and the public stated an interest in developing formal water trails in coastal areas and along inland water bodies that can connect provincial parks, islands, beaches, coastal communities, and existing walking trails.
“There are three in particular, Isle Madame, the Forchu Coast Wilderness Area, and the Bras d’Or Lake itself that have a lot of potential to become marquee paddling destinations,” he said.
Trail amenities like benches, waste bins, dog bags, bike repair stations and trail head signs with maps were other recommendation in the strategy to make trails more comfortable, convenient, and attractive, stated Mans.
Because people weren’t aware and couldn’t find information on all the trails, Mans said they are recommending an online trail map, on the municipality’s website, to show all the trails, along with useful information like their length, difficulty, problem areas, and what’s permitted on them.
Man said another recommendation is to develop a formal trails policy to incorporate into the municipal planning strategy.
“This will provide significant and ongoing support for trails that would remain even if council or staff change-over in the future,” he said. “This would help protect trails as a priority for the municipality in the long term.”
Another way to support trail development is through a trail funding program, which Mans said could be an annual budget line item, or part of a recreation program.
“The idea here is that trail groups could apply to receive a small grant from the municipality for the purposes of developing trail,” he said. “Community groups could leverage this small seed grant from the municipality and attract more funding from the province or from federal trail grant programs which there are many out there right now. This could really allow them to raise the capital needed, to not only build new trails, but to plan and design for them properly.”
Mans said the document contains details about how the municipality and groups can implement the recommendations with timelines, costs, and potential partners.
In response to a question from District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon about whether old roads and logging roads are part of the trail network, Mans said ATV groups are researching land agreements.
“We’re aware that our mapping is incomplete and this is something a lot of the ATV groups are working on; collecting a lot of that GPS data,” he noted. “It is a gap that we recognized in the actual strategy.”
If there are specific trails that are approved, Mans asked that councillors make them aware so they can all be included in the final draft of the strategy.
Expecting that the final version will be available soon, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette suggested that the final strategy be discussed at the regular monthly council meeting in November.
“Really great work on that; something for us to think about and maybe do a little more homework on,” she added.