Skip to content

Cash still needed for Stelly’s Cross Path

MLA Olsen wants more specifics first
10138258_web1_180112-PNR-stellyspathupdate
(Google Maps)

For over two years, the District of Central Saanich has been evaluating how to build a trail down Stelly’s Cross Road. However, funding the project remains a challenge.

Most recently, the District sent another letter to MLA Adam Olsen asking for provincial funding.

Olsen said he received the letter from Central Saanich, dated Dec. 18, 2017.

He said he is “neither a cheerleader nor an opponent to this project.”

“One: it’s my job to advocate on behalf of the whole community, and two, I live on Stelly’s Cross Road, as does (Councillor) Zeb [King], so this project is on my street. It impacts me and it impacts him,” said Olsen.

With that caveat in mind, he said, there are not enough specifics on the project, including the trail’s direction and the materials used. Olsen said he could not advocate for this project before that work is done.

“So I think there’s work that Central Saanich and Tsartlip need to do in terms of where the trail’s located, what side of the road it’s on, how long it is, [and] what kind of trail they would like,” said Olsen.

Olsen said he will reply to the District of Central Saanich soon.

Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor said that the material used would depend on the money available. In Jan. 2016, a concrete path was priced at $179 per metre to install and 53 cents to maintain, whereas wood chips were $48 per metre to install and $1.59 per meter to maintain. Windsor said there were challenges, including drainage, but the district felt that a variety of road users (kids, cyclists, wheelchair users) would benefit from a trail.

Windsor said the District could save for the path over several years, but they have many projects to fund, so finding several hundred thousand dollars was not easy.

In an email to the Peninsula News Review, King said that he “hoped the MLA will commit to helping the municipality get this funding since our MLA has a unique balance of power position with this provincial government.”

Windsor said he believed the Tsartlip were in general agreement with the project and had sought federal funding for the project, but was unsure of their progress.

The PNR has requested comment from the Tsartlip First Nation.

— With files from

Carlie Connolly