Still image from a video showcasing the project. Photo: Alvin Reinhard Fritz Architect Inc.

By Justin Goulet

Work on pathway connecting Lethbridge and Coaldale set to start soon

Mar 8, 2020 | 7:05 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Work on a pathway connecting Lethbridge with Coaldale should be starting soon.

The Link Pathway, as the project is known, will wind through Lethbridge County along the St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) canal. It will provide a connecting path for pedestrians and cyclists and offer a safer way to get to either community than riding or walking along the highways in Lethbridge County.

“Birds of Prey [Centre] would be the anchor on the east and Henderson Lake will be the anchor in Lethbridge., It’s a 15-kilometre-long pathway linking the two cities together for the most part along an irrigation canal,” said Project Chair Henry Doeve.

“It’s off-road, it’s off highways. It crosses the grid roads on the [Lethbridge] County but it doesn’t follow any highways, so it’s all offline.”

Doeve said this project has been in the works for about four years, with lots of behind the scenes work being done to make the pathway a reality.

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He said he’s optimistic that the first phase of construction could begin in the spring or early summer.

“Phase one will be from Coaldale until halfway, which is Vista Meadows,” he explained, adding the hope is to have that first phase finished by the later in the summer.

“We have most of our approvals. The engineering for the Jail Road crossing is complete, so we’re just waiting for some final approvals and some logistics around installing the culvert – we have a box culvert going under the Jail Road. The path will cross under the Jail Road – the [Highway] 512 – not over it. So, we’re just working on the final logistics of the installation of that crossing.”

He said project team members envision the entire pathway to be completed by fall of 2021.

Doeve added they’re getting a lot of in-kind support as far as funding for the project goes.

“We expect to build it for less than 3-million [dollars],” he said.

Monies will also come from the Lethbridge County and a grant from Alberta Transportation for the Jail Road crossing.

Doeve said once completed, the pathway help promote safety, health and wellness.

“It’s also going to be an interpretive path which will explain the story of agriculture, irrigation and the [Lethbridge] Research Centre along the way with interpretive storyboards.”

More details on the Link Pathway can be found here.