Trail users will be better able to traverse the Outer Bypass after some repairs and maintenance.
At a meeting last month, the Regional District of Nanaimo board approved $15,000 from the regional parks budget money to go to the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club to use for repair and maintenance of sections of the Outer Bypass trail, including in the Witchcraft Lake and Jameson Road areas. According to the application, the money will be used to enlist the aid of McGarrigle Woodworking and Trails.
Morgan Deno, club president, said the trail has eroded over time and a lot of the work will be water management to improve drainage. Trees that are rotten or a threat to fall onto the trail will be cleared.
“There are a lot of spots of the trail where puddles will form, so [there’s] standing water. Usually what is done is those puddles are drained and they’re usually filled with rock and then capped with dirt…” Deno said. “In other cases where water is running heavily, then small culverts are put in, basically little drain pipes are put in underneath the trail surface to allow water to flow under instead of over.”
The work will benefit trail users as it will increase safety, according to the club.
“Some of the bridges have slippery decking that need to have some better tread put on them, so at the end of the day, the benefits for trail users, the first and foremost is safety, which is always our No. 1 goal and the second is just sustainability of the trail,” said Deno. “Without this work, the trail would continue to erode into a point where again, safety becomes worse and usability is no longer feasible.”
He said the club is still awaiting paperwork from the RDN, but the goal is to begin work sometime in the fall or winter and be done by the end of March.
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