The Sparwood Trails Alliance (STA) will soon be working hard on the next new thing for keen bikers in the region: A shiny new trail.
The Sloppy Joe trail will bring an extra 1,420m of trail to the existing Lunch Network to the immediate south of town near the Sparwood Golf Course.
With work set to commence on the new intermediate trail in June, Christina Bilski of the STA said that it was a planned to be a trail that could be enjoyed by all users.
“By nature, the Lunch Network has been designed for trail users to get out and make their activity as long or as short as they want it to be with the way the trail intertwines and loops back on itself,” she said.
“With the addition of Sloppy Joe, we are nearing the completion of the Lunch Network. We are currently rolling out fundraising plans and are targeting completion of the network for this year,” she added.
The wholly-completed Lunch Network will have 6km of trail just outside of town available to riders. Over the last five years, the STA will have added 10km of new trails.
“The STA was formed in 2016 and we are hoping to complete the Lunch Network to celebrate our 5 year anniversary,” said Bilski.
“We are currently working on funding for the last 900m of the trail network, which will see another spur off which will complete the Lunch Money trail descent, and a connector trail between Sloppy Joe and Lunch Money named Smoko.”
Funding for works on Sloppy Joe and the Lunch Network is thanks to the Sparwood Futures Society, which Bilski said provided the STA with the seed money required to secure a Columbia Basin Trust trail enhancement grant.
Due to social restrictions, events and happenings with the STA have been postponed or are being tinkered with to comply with public health orders, so for now the focus of the group is to raise funds to complete the Lunch Network. The FatAss race will be postponed, with hopes it can take place in September. Additionally, there are plans for a 50/50 fundraiser later in March, and the STA will be releasing some new t-shirt and hat designs in Spring.
READ MORE: New ping pong table a Youth Action Sparwood initiative
scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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