First phase of the Okanagan Rail Trail opens

After five years of planning, fundraising and construction, a portion of the Okanagan Rail Trail officially opened this week.

While a sectionof the trail is still not connected, the completed trailwill eventually span nearly 50 kilometres from Kelowna to Coldstream, B.C.

Almost half of the trail will run along lakes, creeks and greenways, according to Brad Clements, a spokepersonfor the Okanagan Rail Trail.

"It's pretty spectacular for an urban-type trail to have so much nature around it," Clementssaid.

Phase one complete

The bike and hiking trail is a converted abandoned CN rail track, which the City of Kelowna, along with other municipalities, bought for approximately $22 million, according to Clements.

About 34 kilometres of the trail isnow open. There was a grand opening for phase one of the trail on Thursday. The full trail is supposed to connectColdstreamat the north end, through Vernon, Lake Country and into downtownKelownaat the south end.

More than 300,000 people have used the trail already, according to Clements. He says many people are thrilled about the trail, particularly seniors who appreciate the flat terrain.

"It's truly a dream come true," says Clements.

Holes in the trail

However, there are still gaps in the trail.

Last week, the Agricultural Land Commission issueda reportrejecting plans for part of the trail that runs north ofKelownaInternational Airport toWinfield.

In the report, theALCmentioned concerns like public safety, trespassing and littering on properties in the region.

In addition, the part of the trail that runs through the OkanaganIndian Band is not completed yet.

Clements said all the money is raised, and organizers are in the process of engineering and planning.The band has been on board since the early stages of the project.

"The land inside theOkanaganIndian Band, that has to go through a federal process where they transfer the land from CN to the federal government to the band. [That] is in the works," Clementssaid.

There is no completion date set for the entire trail yet, butClementssays organizersare on track.

"There area few moving pieces, but they'reall heading in the right direction."

With files from Daybreak South.