Avid walkers in Longview will have to wait another year before enjoying the view of the foothills while strolling along the village’s first paved walking trail.
Construction was to begin on a one-kilometre paved trail along the ridge of the Highwood River on the west side of Longview this summer, but was put on hold when the project wasn’t approved for provincial funding that would have covered half the cost.
Michele Geistlinger, chairperson of the Longview Arts, Recreation and Community (ARC) Society that is heading the project, said its application to the Alberta Culture and Tourism Community Facility Enhancement Program was denied in June.
The society applied for the grant in December hoping it would cover half of the $162,000 cost to build the Legacy Walking/Jogging Pathway. The path will run from the village’s outdoor rink, west along Highway 541 and south along the fence line west of Longview, she said.
“I was told they got an overwhelming number of applications from southern Alberta,” said Geistlinger. “It was completely based on this grant. We’ve got it all mapped out and ready to go. As soon as we can get the matching funding we are good to go.”
When the society learned the application was denied it immediately applied for the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program, but at the time only had a week to do so.
Although more than $170,000 in funding was approved for upgrades and repairs to facilities in municipalities across the region earlier this month, Longview was not among the recipients.
Geistlinger said the society will submit another application to the Community Facility Enhancement Program before its Sept. 15 deadline.
“I would apply one more time before I gave up on it,” she said. “We couldn’t do it this year, but I’m hopeful we are able to do it next year. I see no reason why they will turn us down this time.”
The society has asked Foothills Conservative candidate John Barlow what other grants the pathway might be eligible for, said Geistlinger.
“If it comes to the point where we can’t get the matching funds maybe we can talk to our funders,” she said. “If worse comes to worse we will just do half the trail.”
No matter what response the grant applications receive, Geistlinger said the society will go ahead with the legacy pathway with existing funding from the Legacy Oil and Gas Community Association, Daryl K. Seaman Canadian Hockey Fund Grant Program and the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA), which covers half the cost.
The Longview Legacy Walking/Jogging Pathway was identified as a priority in the society’s Active Community Strategy, developed in 2013 through the ARPA.
To gather input for the strategy, the society worked with volunteers to create a survey to determine what projects or initiatives residents would like to see in the community to promote physical activity.
The survey was conducted in 2013 with 90 per cent of the village’s approximately 300 residents responding.
The lack of places for residents to walk has been an ongoing issue in the village, said Geistlinger.
“There really isn’t anywhere (to walk),” she said. “We don’t have sidewalks on both sides of the street in some of the subdivisions. If you follow the sidewalk around town it’s exactly one kilometre.”
Geistlinger said the only other place she sees people walking is up the hill along Highway 22.
“It’s just an accident waiting to happen, in my opinion,” she said. “It worries me with the seniors out walking on the highway.”
The cost of the pathway includes the eight-foot-wide path made of resin and pea gravel, benches, garbage and smoking receptacles, dog bag stations, historical signage and glow-in-the-dark pebbles to increase visibility in the non-lit area.
Geistlinger said she hopes the society can begin construction on the Longview Legacy Walking/Jogging Pathway next summer and finish it during the summer of 2017, which will also mark Canada’s 150th birthday.
The pathway will be open to walkers, joggers, cyclists, skateboarders, long boarders and rollerbladers and will be wide enough to allow for emergency vehicle access.
