The Town of Canmore has committed to enter an agreement with the MD of Bighorn over specifications regarding the Legacy Trail that paves the way for eventual approval by Alberta Transportation.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the decision at its meeting Jan. 15. The agreement ensures maintenance, life cycle rehabilitation, removal and liability of the trail is agreed upon by the Town and MD.
According to Andy Esarte, manager of engineering for the Town of Canmore, Alberta Transportation required an agreement from the two sides as well as design approval to construct the trail, which is estimated at $2 million.
“They have committed to agree provided that the design is acceptable to them,” Esarte said. “They’ve reviewed the design and have deemed it to be acceptable.
“Once it goes to the MD’s council and once they approve it, then we hope to sign an agreement with the Province allowing us to have that trail there in time to get it built when it does get funded.”
Although the agreement between the Town and the MD does not guarantee funding at this stage, the manager pointed out that it resolves potential problems once the funding is announced.
“It’s something we’re putting in place in hopes that we can come up with a funding arrangement between all of the impacted parties,” he added.
In the Jan. 15 agenda package to Canmore council, the report noted that the remaining trail section to construct is the portion between the Banff gates and Canmore.
The length of the trail contained within the agreement between the Town and the MD is roughly 3.5 kilometres and is split between 1.6 km in the MD and 1.9 km in Canmore.
Due to most of the benefits of the trail going to the Town, the agreement states Canmore will bear the majority, 85 per cent, of maintenance costs, rehabilitation, replacement and removal. The MD will be responsible for 15 per cent.
The report also noted that each jurisdiction would be responsible for maintaining liability insurance for each portion of trail on their land.
In terms of the financial commitments from the Town, operating costs for Legacy Trail are forecast to be $500-$1,000 annually for sweeping and cleaning plus $3,000 for repair from sewer line breaks.
According to the report, over the next 50 years the annual costs for infrastructure is estimated at $30,000. Based on split with the MD, the Town of Canmore’s share of the cost will be $24,000.
“It will tie the town in directly to the hugely popular Legacy Trail,” Esarte said about the trail once it’s completed. “It will provide safer and more convenient access to the trail from the east end.
“Where people are currently accessing from the park gates or from the Harvie Heights overpass, they’ll be able to go directly from their homes in Canmore or park at the visitor information centre and access the trailhead safely.”
