Fundy Trail delay a 'big disappointment' for business in St. Martins

The owner of a St. Martins bed-and-breakfast says his retirement plans have been put on hold and the value of his business depreciated by years of delays in completing the Fundy Trail.

Mike Fiori, 71, and his wife, Barb, bought the Salmon River B&B and Fiori's Family Restaurant in 2008. The business is advertised online as offering Tex-Mex cuisine, scenic views of the beach and proximity to the "world-famous Fundy Trail."

When he and his wife moved from Colorado to St. Martins to operate the business, the trail's anticipated completion in 2018 was a "guiding light," Fiori said.

In June 2014, the federal and provincial governments announced $22.8 million to complete the parkway in 2018, forecasting it would generate between $32 million and $37 million in annual tourism spending.

The Fundy Trail Parkway is on track to be completed this fall, but the connecting provincial road to Fundy National Park will not open until 2020 and will not be completely finished until the following year.

23 years of delays

Since construction began in 1994, the trail has been met with delays.

The completion of the trail was first announced in the federal budget in 2009, but only enough money wasallocated then and in subsequent budgets to completea short section.

Last December, the feds and the province announced $45 million to complete connecting roads from the end of the parkway to Fundy Park and Sussex.

Fiori said he's starting to lose faith in the process.

"They've been postponing it and postponing it and postponing it," he said. "I'm not convinced at all that they'll be able to finish it in 2021."

'I intended to retire by this time'

By this time in his life, Fiori said, he had hoped business would be good enough for him to take a less hands-on role.

"I intended to retire by this time, either that or sell the place," he said.

"In another three years, I'll be 74 years old, and I'm still working from 8 a.m. until 8 or 9 at night. That'sa bit of a challenge at my age."

Although he said he loves the job and the people, like a lot of others in the village, he's "disappointed" by the shifting completion dates.

People travelling on the parkway have to turn around at the end and drive back to St. Martins to return to the provincial highway system.

A lot of his customers, he said, are hikers and bikers interested in checking out the trail until they hear that they have to "go up there and turn around and then come back again," Fiori said. "That's the big problem."

He said the connecting road to Sussex slated to open in late 2019 is "better than nothing."

Lost revenue

Fiori said the province is losing out on tourist dollars by failing to complete the trail on schedule.

"One of the problems that the province has it that it's a pass-through province on the way to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland," he said, adding that the completed portions of the trail are "even better than the Cabot Trail, because [the Fundy Trail] is so tourist-friendly with so many more places to hike and stop and look at the bay."

But he said the failure to complete the project as promisedis hurting small business operators.

"The people we told last year that it was going to be finished in 2018 aren't going to come back," he said.
"They're going to have to wait until 2021, and it is a big disappointment."