CP Rail says a construction project to expand its mainline through downtown Kamloops is now finished.
Work had started in November to widen 2.6 kilometres of track from east of Vicars Road to west of 10th Avenue.
“The project included the removal of sections of track known as crossovers, which allowed trains to transfer between two sets of parallel tracks. Where those crossovers were removed, new rail segments were added to reconnect each of the main line tracks,” CP says.
CP adds that it is reseeding areas that were disturbed by construction, namely an area near homes on Lorne Street East.
The corporation updated its projects page on its website today to say that the work had been completed.
The track expansion was needed to accommodate increased shipments of coal from the mines owned by Teck Resources in the Elk Valley to Teck’s Neptune Terminal in North Vancouver. Teck and CN Rail signed a contract in December of 2019, and CN uses CP’s line from the Kootenays to Kamloops to transport that coal. The contract will last until 2026.
The former Jack Gregson trail, which runs through CP land and was once a popular connection between downtown and Valleyview, was closed last November to make room for the project.
Last month, the city announced the Nature Walk trail at McArthur Island would be renamed to honour the renowned local environmentalist.
Meanwhile, CP says it is working on noise fences in part of downtown. It’s replacing the noise fence between Lorne Street East and the Highway 5 overpass, and adding a new noise fence south of Lorne Street. Both projects are expected to be done later this month.