Work on the Shuswap's first dedicated downhill mountain bike park will gain further ground with federal funding.
The federal government recently announced the Shuswap Trail Alliance (STA) was selected to receive Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) support to the tune of $190,731 to improve a network of trails for mountain biking and hiking in the Shuswap.
"We're super grateful for the funding," said STA executive director Jen Bellhouse. "This is the first time we’ve applied for PacifiCan funding. It’s certainly the first time that we had projects that were applicable. We put our application in last February and we were really excited to find out we were successful."
Among those projects is the Owlhead Mountain Bike Park at Sicamous.
"This project continues to build on the regional success of growing and diversifying tourism in the Shuswap as a destination trail centre through the addition of a climbing track and downhill mountain bike park in the new Owlhead Mountain Bike network," said Bellhouse.
The STA was selected by the District of Sicamous as the contractor to build the mountain bike trail, which was the only infrastructure project included in the PacifiCan application. The funding will also be used to plan for priority projects.
"Planning funding is often quite difficult to find, but once we get through this series of plans, that gives us projects that are ready to apply for infrastructure grants that are shovel ready," said Bellhouse, explaining the funding will be used for the preparation of four new trail plans in four sub-regional areas, and the planning for a mountain bike skills park."
Bellhouse stressed the STA wanted to make sure the funding would benefit the region.
