A popular hiking and cycling path in Colony Farm park is now being replaced.
Last week, Metro Vancouver — the agency in charge of the green space in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam — started to build a new pathway to update the Colony Farm Sheep Paddocks Trail.
The old trail, which was subject to erosion and flooding from the nearby Coquitlam River, will be moved to higher ground and connect with Pitt River Road (by the red bridge) and the park's Home Farm Dyke and Mundy Creek trails.
Jamie Vala, regional parks (central) division manager, told The Tri-City News yesterday (Monday) the $3.4-million project was put on hold because the regional authority needed to get the necessary provincial permits.
Besides the province, Metro Vancouver also needed to get permission from CP Rail to build on the interface and it was required to obtain a licence from BC Hydro to use its right-of-way; however, Vala said there was no land-use issues with the cities of Coquitlam or PoCo nor with the Kwikwetlem First Nation.
Construction of the new trail will be done in phases and outside the environmentally sensitive periods. And once finished, in 2020, the multi-use gravel trail will be "more robust. It'll be great to have that connection," Vala said.
