Fredericton to close Lincoln Trail for entire summer
People who use the popular Lincoln Trail, which runs through part of Fredericton along the St. John River, will need to find another place to run or walk their dogs.
Greg McCann, an engineer with the City of Fredericton, said a stretch of the trail, from Wilsey Road to Aquarius Street, will be closed later this week until Sept. 1 so a new sewer pipe can be installed.
The affected stretch amounts to about 3.5 kilometres of the 8.8-kilometre trail.
"It will be closed all summer," McCann told Information Morning Fredericton.
An information meeting about the trail closure is scheduled for Wednesday at the Grant Harvey Centre from 6:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m.
"People can come and voice any concerns or just come chat and find out more information about the project and what they might see along the trail,' McCann said.
There is a second meeting Thursday evening, also at the Grant Harvey Centre, to discuss decommissioning the Lincoln sewage lagoon, which is a related but separate project.
"The work on the trail is required for the closure of the lagoon," McCann said.
Alternate route not ideal
Installation of the new pipe isn't expected to begin for two weeks but tree trimming has to be completed first, which means the trail could close as early as this week.
McCann said the contractor intends to start trimming trees on the section of trail between Lincoln Road and Wilsey Road and then move to a shorter section between Lincoln Road and Aquarius Street.
Unfortunately, McCann said, there isn't an easy detour for people to get around the closure.
"The alternate route would be the trail system that goes up around the Vanier Industrial Drive," he said.
"People can walk up through Lincoln Heights and use that trail and that eventually connects to the Lincoln Trail between the Wilsey Road and Dunns Crossing. It's kind of the upper loop of that trail system."
McCann said the city is trying to eliminate the Lincoln sewage lagoon with the goal of modernizing sewage treatment in that part of Fredericton.
He said installing the sewer pipe along the Lincoln Trail is the best and cheapest way to do that.
