The regional district board of directors awarded a contract for trail resurfacing on the Kettle Valley Railway trail between Okanagan Falls and Kaleden at the regular board meeting on April 18.
Resurfacing, using an aggregate material similar to that used in the Penticton to Naramata section of the KVR trail will be done by Grizzly Excavating Ltd.
The board reviewed two submissions to the regional district’s request for proposal, with Grizzly Excavating’s proposed completion date slated for May 21.
A total of $250,000 in Gas Tax funding has been allocated in the regional district’s Area “D” budget for the improvements. The resurfacing represents the first of a three phase program to resurface the trail. Phase two will resurface the trail from Pioneer Park to Banbury Green Campground, and Phase three will resurface the trail from Banbury to Penticton.
Ownership of the KVR right of way between Banbury Green Campground and Penticton is an issue that remains unclear.
Canadian Pacific Railway and the Department of Indian Affairs have never completed an agreement betweeen the two parties to turn over the right of way to the Penticton Indian Band. The regional district would like to see the right of way officially become a portion of the trail corridor, connecting Penticton to points south.