The Coastal Link Trail would connect the Trans Canada Trail and the East Coast Greenway in the U.S. (Nick Cameron)
A new recreational project aims to link together two national trail networks to create one of the longest international trails in the world.
Those two trails are the Trans Canada Trail or the “Great Trail,” and the East Coast Greenway, which stretches all the way from the Florida Keys to Calais, Maine.
Nick Cameron with the Fundy Regional Service Commission hopes the trail will put New Brunswick on the map.
Cameron says the trail is about more than just recreation: it will increase tourism, and hopefully population growth.
“Beyond just establishing a trail, its about supporting healthy living in this area, augmenting provincial tourism, promoting the economic opportunities that this project provides, and being able to attract and retain population growth in Southwestern New Brunswick,” he said during a Saint John council meeting.
The proposed trail-head would be in the Saint John area. Cameron says the favourite right now is Rockwood Park, as it already had amenities like bathrooms, parking and restaurants. Other options include Uptown Saint John and Market Place.
The proposed route for the trail would start in Rockwood Park in Saint John. (Nick Cameron)
Cameron explains the proposed trail will be 30 per cent off road, and 70 per cent on road, which will allow them to take advantage of existing trail infrastructure, and set things up faster.
It will also connect through smaller communities along the way.
“We don’t want to create another byway. Another reason for starting this project was because of the twinning of route one, which created a byway around some of these rural communities, and we want to pull people back into these communities, not create another opportunity for people to go around them,” he said.
Cameron and his group—the Coastal Link Trail Inc.—have asked the city of Saint John to write a letter of recommendation to the province in support of the project, something he says they need in order to move forward.
“We’d like to register this trail with the Trans Canada Trail Network,” said Cameron, which will require those letters of support.
“That does a couple of things. It opens up some marketing opportunities; we would be considered part of the Trans Canada Trail, so we’d be on their map and part of their marketing efforts. It also opens up some funding opportunities,” he said.
The group currently has $1 million in seed funding from the province, but are looking at more funding options from ACOA.
Cameron says they can’t do everything with that money just yet, so they have to prioritize. On the top of their list right now is choosing a trail-head and conducting a design study on the trail.
They also hope to find ways to improve the Spruce Lake Trail, and to integrate cycling options into the trails.
Cameron says next steps include an economic impact study through ACOA, and to register the trail with the Trans Canada network.
