Image credit: Gabe Nava/Splatsin Development Corporation
Construction Underway

Start of new rail trail on track thanks to rezoning in Sicamous

Apr 19, 2024 | 7:45 AM

SICAMOUS, B.C. — The District of Sicamous has approved a rezoning that will allow development to proceed on a key section of the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail, although it could be some time before that happens.

The section between Kilometres 0 and 1.5 in Sicamous is now able to be used for recreational purposes.

As construction on the trail south of Sicamous has already begun at Kilometre 1.5 moving south toward Kilometre 4.5, the ownership partners will now be looking at ways to get the Sicamous section between Kilometre 0.5 and Kilometre 1.5 developed during the 2024 construction season.

“We are already going over our construction plans to see how we can get this done. If we can do it this year, we will do it this year,” Gabe Nava, Project Construction Manager for Splatsin Development Corporation’s Yucwmenlúcwu (Caretakers of the Land), said.

The first 0.5-kilometres of the trail is linked in with work being done by the province to replace the Bruhn Bridge on the Trans-Canada Highway, so the ownership partners have agreed to delay construction on that segment at this time.

Once completed, the trail will provide a continuous 50-kilometre corridor for walking and cycling between Sicamous and Armstrong.

The rail trail ownership partners are the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD), Splatsin té Secwépemc and the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO).