Tree clearing & debris removal underway off Walker Road. The present pedestrian entrance to the Crooked Tree trail is on the left

Tantramar public works staff have been clearing trees and hauling away debris to create a gravel parking lot for skiers, snowshoers, hikers and dog walkers who drive to the Crooked Tree and Ogden Loop trails off Walker Road in Sackville.

“It’ll be a single row of cars that should add up to around 30 parking spaces,” Matt Pryde, Tantramar’s director of active living and culture writes in an e-mail to Warktimes.

He adds that plans call for vehicles to enter the new lot by a utility pole that is nearer the TransCanada highway and exit via the existing, five-vehicle parking area at the present entrance to the Crooked Tree trail.

Pryde says the town is planning to put markings for the parking spots on a guardrail that will be installed parallel to the ditch on Walker Road.

He adds that the town set aside $25,000 in this year’s capital budget to pay for the project and that staff will be seeking quotes on completing the work in the spring.

Less parking, more trees

Municipal staff have been discussing a larger parking area with members of the Tantramar Outdoor Club (TOC), which manages the trails, for at least three years.

Town Engineer Jon Eppell says everyone agrees that the existing parking area isn’t big enough to accommodate the many vehicles that line both sides of the road especially on weekends and holidays when the trails are busy.

“It’s not safe for people crossing Walker Road from behind parked cars,” he says.

Although earlier plans called for a bigger parking lot, the Outdoor Club was concerned about the removal of so many trees.

Eppell says the town agreed to a compromise by creating fewer parking spots to see how things work out.

He’s says that once the larger parking lot is ready, people should no longer park on the Ogden Loop side outside the gate that leads to Sackville’s water treatment plant.

“There have been times when the gate has been blocked,” he says preventing maintenance work on the water system.

For earlier coverage from CHMA, click here.

Aboiteau construction underway

Crane hoisting large steel beam Tuesday over the dyke on the Tantramar River in Sackville’s industrial park.

Meantime, preliminary work is underway to install a new aboiteau in the dyke beside the Tantramar River in Sackville’s industrial park.

The double-gated aboiteau is needed to complete Sackville’s new flood control system.

On Tuesday, construction workers were making preparations to install interlocking steel panels designed to block water from getting into the construction site on the river side of the dyke.

Once the temporary, sheet pile barrier is in place, workers will drive pipes partway through the dyke and then install the aboiteau flapper gates that release stormwater at low tide.

Excavation work

Broad trench has been excavated leading up to the dyke where the new aboiteau will be installed

Meantime, workers have excavated a broad trench that will conduct stormwater to the aboiteau on the town side of the dyke.

The trench will be joined to the new ditch that runs from Crescent Street toward the dyke.

Town Engineer Jon Eppell says the first phase of aboiteau construction should be finished by the end of March and he’s optimistic that the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure will come up with the money soon to complete the project.

For previous coverage, click here.