Kalamoir Park plan puts big hole in cycling trail from Sicamous to Osoyoos

The plan for Kalamoir Regional Park in West Kelowna was going to have a section that would help connect parts of the ambitious bicycle route from Sicamous to Osoyoos, but the advocates’ dreams were dashed.

Trail of the Okanagans Society has been pushing for a 370 kilometre multi-use path through the entire Okanagan connecting the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail to the Okanagan Rail Trail and in theory would continue all the way south to Osoyoos.

The upgrade plan for Kalamoir Park includes making the Waterfront Trail 2.4 metres wide, which the society’s president Janice Liebe said isn’t sufficient.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place and frankly we’re very disappointed,” she said. The park is in a key location right next to the Bennett bridge across Okanagan Lake so it could have served as a gateway into the southern portion of the trail.

A 3-D view of the trails in Kalamoir Regional Park.

Image Credit: RDCO

The park upgrade plan was agreed upon at the Regional District of Central Okanagan’s meeting on April 3.

Liebe said the original idea was to have a wider trail with a buffer on either side so people of all ages and abilities could use it safely.

“The regional district included it in their bicycling and trails master plan. And that included a pathway that went through Kalamoir Park and the reason it went through Kalamoir Park was that it has the least amount of grade. Because an all ages and abilities pathway is meant to be for everybody,” she said.

She said there isn’t really a suitable alternative to go around the park.

“What they built recently was an emergency route out of Casa Loma up to Lakeview Heights on an old forest service road. It has been built, yes, it’s a line on a drawing, but if anybody goes there, I challenge them to get on a bike and ride up it. It’s an 18 per cent grade. So I think you’d have to be a cycling athlete to do it,” she said.

She said locals living around the park complained to decision makers so the trail wouldn’t be included in the park plan.

The dream of a world-class trail through the entire Okanagan has been around for more than 20 years and various levels of government around the region have been working on it.

Recently some portions of the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail were completed and construction of additional sections are underway.