Antigonish town, county residents call for trail project to be completed

Danielle Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Residents of the municipality and the County of Antigonish accidental they privation assembly to implicit a task to make a multi-use way done the community.

The town's mayor, however, said helium has concerns that rising costs could trickle down to residents.

The archetypal signifier of the way successful the municipality has been completed with a paved, multi-use pathway moving from a roundabout connected West Street to Highland Drive.

In January, assembly met to sermon the trail, including whether to implicit the project, implicit lone 1 of the remaining parts, oregon cancel each remaining sections. The consequent phases involve expanding the way down St. Ninian Street, crossed Church Street, along Columbus Field past following East Main Street to Adam Street.

There is besides the Bay Street project, a abstracted infrastructure upgrade that involves roadwork, accessibility changes and drainage enhancements. Municipal officials accidental since portion of the trail way overlaps with Bay Street, completing some projects unneurotic would trim disruptions and costs.

At a municipality hallway gathering Tuesday evening, the project was discussed, specifically however residents felt astir finishing the task successful its entirety.

"This task is astatine the decorativeness line," said Gina MacInnis, who attended the meeting. "The task was expected to beryllium finished this twelvemonth … I conscionable consciousness similar if it is delayed different mates years, [council starts] thinking, 'Well, this isn't the champion route.'"

MacInnis lives successful Antigonish County. The parent of 4 said she and her household person an progressive lifestyle, and she works and volunteers in sports and recreation successful the community.

"As a region nonmigratory who's successful municipality often, my kids spell to schoolhouse successful municipality … I was precise excited to spot [the trail]," she said. She added that astir radical astatine the municipality hallway were successful enactment of completing the trail.

Eric Gillis was besides astatine the gathering and echoed the sentiment. Gillis, a three-time Olympian and the caput cross-country way manager astatine St. Francis Xavier University, said astir of the radical who were successful attendance were "passionate" astir the task being completed. For himself, Gillis said the way means more than conscionable getting from 1 extremity of the municipality to another.

"It's not conscionable wherever radical live, but it's besides wherever radical are gathering, wherever radical privation to be," Gillis said. "It gives radical an accidental to get retired of their vehicles and mingle and get workout and families to spell for a bike, a walk, a stroll, each astatine the aforesaid time."

The task has a full estimated outgo of $4.6 million, with much than 73 per cent of backing coming from authorities grants. Despite the information that lone 1 conception of the way has been completed truthful far, municipality of Antigonish Mayor Sean Cameron said the task is already $300,000 implicit budget. He said immoderate further costs associated with the task volition beryllium "100 per cent connected the taxpayers."

"We person priorities we person to wrestle with. What bash we triage here? What's much important? That'll beryllium a question for council," Cameron said. "We've lone completed astir 600 meters … [for] a small implicit $1 million."

When asked what was down immoderate of the costs, Cameron said creating the way involves bridge work, moving hydro lines, h2o and sewer infrastructure, and narrowing roadworthy surfaces successful immoderate areas.

Cameron said the municipality is reasoning of lone completing the portion of the way that overlaps with the Bay Street project. He and main administrative officer Randy Delorey antecedently signed disconnected connected a petition to widen the task to the extremity of fiscal twelvemonth 2027, which was approved by the province.

The instauration of the way is astir 2 decades successful the making, with the way improvement survey launching successful 2007. The progressive proscription program for the municipality and County of Antigonish was created successful 2014 with a committee for progressive proscription forming successful 2016. 

In 2021 and 2022, the municipality and the region received task approval, respectively.

Following the municipality hall, Cameron said the municipality is going to constitute up a study connected what was heard astatine the gathering and the numbers associated with the task that volition beryllium made disposable to the nationalist successful the adjacent 2 weeks oregon so.