Round the River Trail Map  (Courtesy Municipality of Chatham-Kent)Round the River Trail Map (Courtesy Municipality of Chatham-Kent)
Chatham

Construction contact approved for second phase of 21 km trail

Outdoor enthusiasts in Chatham-Kent are celebrating after the next step of an extensive trail project was approved by council on Monday night.

Council voted in favour of awarding a $3.5 million contract for construction on Phase 2 of the Round The River Project.

The 21.5-kilometre Round The River recreational trail traverses west along Riverview Line, crosses the Prairie Siding Bridge, and heads east back to Chatham on Grande River Line.

Phase 1 of the Round the River trail was completed in October 2018 and features a one kilometre long, three-metre wide pathway and nearly 2 kilometres of paved shoulder that extends west approximately 1 kilometre past Bear Line on both the north and south side of Grande River Line.

Phase 2 will consist of connecting the end of Phase 1, located on Grande River Line, and continuing down Grande River Line towards Jacob Siding Bridge, over to Riverview Line and continuing east back into Chatham to connect back to Keil Drive North. The project will complete the remaining 19-kilometre cycling loop, connecting to the Bloomfield Road multi-use pathway, which connects to Richmond Street bike lanes.

Council heard over a dozen deputations on Monday night from residents in support of the project.

Chatham-Kent Trails Council President Dianne Flook said the idea for the project has been years in the making.

"It's been a dream of ours but we never really thought it would come to fruition," said Flook.

In 2014 Chatham-Kent's infrastructure and engineering department developed a committee of community stakeholders who expressed interest in providing monetary and in-kind services towards route construction. This included Greenfield Specialty Alcohols, which pledged $250,000 towards trail construction. The municipality has also been able to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in provincial grants towards the trail project.

According to Flook, there was an immense amount of effort behind the scenes working with the municipal parks department, engineering department and with local community partners. Without help from the community partners, Flook said the project would have never happened.

"They really believed in it and tried to help in every way they could think of," she said. "A lot of them were municipal employees but also a lot of volunteers helped us out with the vision."

In addition to providing a safer route for cyclists, walkers and joggers, Flook said the timing of the trail project will also coordinate with the installation of high-speed fibre in the areas.

The proposed route of the high-speed fibre conduit parallels the trail on both sides of River Line and Grande River Line.

"Previously, telecommunication companies planning to install high-speed fibre within the proposed trail route areas have encountered encroachment issues on private property as well as conflicts with other utilities within the municipal road allowance," stated a staff report on the trail. "This has resulted in delays and continual challenges with providing high-speed fibre to the properties along this corridor. Coordinating this project, along with the proposed fibre installation, all with the same contractor will ensure the high-speed fibre installation will be completed at an earlier than anticipated date in a cost-effective manner. "

The project tender will be awarded to Clarke Construction Inc. and the project is expected to be completed by summer 2021. Total project costs are $3,514,587

With capital budget allocation, carry over budget allocation, unspent funds, grant funding and the donation from Greenfield Ethanol, total project funding sits at $4,391,868 resulting in $877,099 remaining available funding.

Flook said seeing the support towards the Round the River Trail makes her optimistic that similar recreational projects will continue to make their way to Chatham-Kent. Currently, the Chatham-Kent Trails Council is working on the CASO trail, located in Ridgetown. Flook said the trail council is hoping to eventually extend the CASO trail to stretch from Elgin County to Essex County.

"That's a huge dream but Round the River was just a dream and now we've got it and we're just thrilled and I think many people are thrilled with it," she said.

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