The long planned rehabilitation of a 4.2-kilometre portion of the Jackson Creek Trail will proceed following Otonabee Conservation’s awarding of a $580,000 contract to Drain Brothers Excavating.
In 2020, after a study identified areas in need of repair, cost estimates were requested. The following year saw Otonabee Conservation secure close to $525,000 in federal funding for the work. That was augmented by $61,500 from the Trans Canada Trail group and just more than $40,000 in community donations.
Otonabee Conservation CAO Janette Loveys Smith says it’s an investment that makes good sense.
Loveys Smith adds the investment speaks directly to Otonabee Conservation’s mandate.
Noting Otonabee Conservation purchased the abandoned CNR rail line that forms the trail’s current route in 1992, Loveys Smith says doing so was visionary.
Besides improvements to the trail, the work also involves repairs to three bridges as well as the addition of trail rest stops and new signage.
