Rail trail ‘test section’ to be built in Enderby this year

A small section of a proposed rail trail has been approved for construction.

The two-kilometer "test section" of the proposed Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail will run through Enderby and the Splatsin First Nation.

A rail trail committee is still finalizing the details, but trail construction is scheduled to begin this year, according to a news release from the Shuswap Trail Alliance.

The proposed trail is part of a plan to eventually connect Armstrong to Sicamous, and a larger vision of a connected trail stretching from Sicamous south to Osoyoos.

The test section has been estimated to cost $600,000, and grant funding can be applied for since going through the approval process.

The Shuswap Trail Alliance is campaigning to raise $8 million in funds for the proposed 50 km trail, an estimated $160 per metre.

The Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail remains closed from all traffic — powered and non-powered — while construction is underway, and any alterations to vegetation along the corridor should be authorized with land owners beforehand.

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