Grey County council has voted to upgrade the final piece of the CP Rail Trail, allocating funds to lay stone dust to a portion that is prone to becoming almost unusable during certain times of the year.
In a 46-30 vote, councilors ultimately chose to spend $836,287 (Much of it from reserves and grants) to put better material on top of the trail that will allow for more utilization by vehicles, not to mention improve conditions for walkers and runners that would like to use this portion of the trail more.
Southgate Deputy Mayor Brian Milne was a vocal proponent to finishing the trail during Thursday's council meeting, saying "At the north end (of the trail), where the stone dust has been applied, it's a very good, solid trail to run four-wheelers, snowmobiles, horses and walking, but at the south end here, it's basically still the original rail line after they pulled the rails and the ties up". Much of what council discussed on the issue featured discussion about the rising cost of material, and how delaying the project any further could see a 20-30% rise in construction materials by the time council was ultimately ready to finish the trail.
