The City of Fernie, in partnership with the Fernie Trails Alliance (FTA), has been awarded $1,619,000 for the segment of the Fernie Valley Pathway from McLeod Avenue in West Fernie to Mount Fernie Provincial Park Road.
This segment is one portion of the planned larger Fernie Valley Pathway, which is a 6.1 km paved, multi-use pathway from the City of Fernie to Fernie Alpine Resort. It is intended to be a safe and direct link to the residential neighbourhoods and businesses along the Highway 3 corridor, recreation areas, and Fernie Alpine Resort. This initiative will connect central Fernie to Mount Fernie Provincial Park and will provide access to the residential communities of Riverside and the Cedars, and to hotels, restaurants, and other businesses along Highway 3.
Krista Turcasso, FTA Chair, commented, “The Fernie Trails Alliance has been dedicated to the development of the Fernie Valley Pathway as it provides an inclusive and safe link between the community of Fernie and Mount Fernie Provincial Park/Fernie Alpine Resort. Fernie’s multi-use trail network continues to attract more runners, hikers, and bikers and it is important for our community to meet this demand with amenities to not only enhance users’ experiences, but to decrease the impact of this use and keep trail users safe. The FTA board and the Fernie Valley Pathway committee are thrilled with this successful grant and look forward to continuing to work with the City of Fernie on this project!”
Mayor Ange Qualizza added, “Supporting our community to move safely around with active transportation options is a top Council priority as the City works through the active transportation master planning process. We appreciate the hard work of staff and our partners at the FTA and the FVP committee in securing the support of the Government of Canada and Province of BC in funding the next segment of this vital transportation link.”
This segment has been funded under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) – COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream (CVRIS) by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. Previous funding of the Fernie Valley Pathway came from BikeBC.
The Fernie Valley Pathway project was originally called the Fernie Centennial Pathway and has been in planning for over 20 years. The remainder of the trail connecting to Fernie Alpine Resort is in the Regional District of the East Kootenay. Having an active transportation corridor complete to Fernie Alpine Resort would be wonderful, this new section is a huge step towards making this a reality!
