Kelowna plans to buy another chunk of CN Rail corridor for Okanagan Rail Trail

KELOWNA – City officials are negotiating with CN Rail to purchase another piece of the abandoned rail right-of-way for the Okanagan Rail Trail.

Andrew Gibb, who servers as project leader for the Okanagan Rail Trail, says the city is looking to buy the chunk of the right-of-way from Gordon Drive west to Ellis Street.

“It was never actually part of the original corridor purchase,” Gibb explained. “We didn’t have the money at the time.”

Preliminary design work has already begun, Gibb said, with the initial aim of bringing it up to the same standard as the rest of the rail trail — a three-metre wide path lined with compacted crushed gravel.

Plans are to eventually bring it up to the same standard as the previously existing Rails With Trails path which extends from Gordon Drive to Dilworth Drive.

Gibb said the purchase price has yet to be finalized but the deal should be concluded next month. He could not provide a possible completion date for the extension.

The Okanagan Rail Trail will extend from Vernon to Kelowna along a 48.5-kilometre section of the right-of-way.

While some gaps remain, the section from downtown Kelowna to UBC Okanagan should be complete this summer.

Find past stories about the Okanagan Rail Trail here.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.