A new extension in Upper Sahali to connect to the Xget’tem Trail will be built this summer.

The $2-million-dollar project will see a new three-metre-wide path built on Summit Drive from Whiteshield Crescent to the trail head, at Notre Dame Drive, with lighting, trees, crosswalks and pedestrian signals. There will be upgrades made to Summit Drive for vehicles turning onto the on-ramp to the Trans-Canada Highway.

The city is hoping a grant will cover half a million dollars. With or without the grant, the project will start this summer and be opened in 2021.

“I know there’s some discussion back and forth about if this is the right section right now. As a former resident for a long time in this area, this is a very heavily-used corridor. TRU students, there’s a daycare there, there’s a high school, elementary school, commuters. And I would say that traffic – pedestrian and cycling traffic – is pretty close with the area in TRU,” councillor Sadie Hunter says.

The Xget’tem Trail, which opened in 2018 after being built for $3.7 million dollars, connects Sahali to downtown with a walking path that’s 1.7 kilometres long.

For the trail extension, city staff has a deadline of Feb. 20 to apply for the grant which could cover up to $500,000, and there was discussion at council about whether this project was one that the city should be investing in right now, compared to other active transportation projects.

Mayor Ken Christian says it’s a useful project to help connect more residents to the trail, thus bringing easier walking access across the city. And that’s not all.

“There’s a million wants, and only a certain amount, or a finite amount, of money. But what appeals to me about this project, one is that it’s shelf-ready. So that when the other levels of government come up with an initiative, we have projects that we can just grab and get in. So there is an element of timeliness to this one.”