The brand new addition to the Rotary Trail behind and west of the hospital site means there is less than a thousand metres to go to complete the 23 km circuit. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

completing the circuit

Rotary Trail less than a kilometre from completion

Jul 29, 2019 | 2:43 PM

There is now less than a kilometre to go to finish what is already one of Prince Albert’s top amenities. The full circle of the 23-kilometre Rotary Trail that surrounds the city should be completed by mid-September, according to a city official.

Crews recently wrapped up the construction and surfacing of a key section of the 10-foot-wide trail, traversing the slope behind the hospital and taking the circuit a little closer to the start/finish mark due west of the city.

“So far to date we’ve completed another 893 metres of the trail,” Director of Public Works Wes Hicks told paNOW.

The trail head previously ended behind Pineview Terrace on the hospital site but it has now been extended further to 17^th Avenue W.

“Brand new fresh asphalt now wanders and meanders down the hill into the forest,” Hicks said, noting there are now just 813 metres to go to link up with the existing trail on the farthest westerly part of the city.

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“We have now successfully, I believe, negotiated the ability to go to the north side of the railway tracks and hook up with where the trail started next to the edge of the city at the penitentiary fence line,” Hicks said.

Part of the planned final 813 metres of the Rotary Trail – from 17th Avenue W. to the connection with the existing pathway at the penitentiary fence line – will need to run on this lane in Westview alongside the railway line to the left. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

Part of the remaining trail route would require use of the lane next to the railway track in Westview, according to Hicks, because that was the only available space to get the connection made.

He said the plan was for the cost of these final pieces of the trail to be paid out of the $1 million gift promised to the city from Husky Energy in light of the 2016 oil spill. Hicks figured the long-awaited completion of the trail would happen by Sept. 15.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow