Photo: City of Williams Lake
The City of Williams Lake held a soft opening today for our new bridge connecting the RC Cotton trail, to Scout Island. This 200ft pedestrian bridge along with the 700m RC cotton trail gets our community one step closer to goals set out in the Parks, Trails and Outdoor Recreation Master plan. This series of projects will eventually give us an uninterrupted trail system from Scout Island to the Fraser River.
According to Williams Lake Mayor, Walt Cobb, “This bridge is a landmark project for the City and along with the new RC Cotton trail greatly adds to the trail options which we know our residents have asked for here in Williams Lake. The bridge, which I’m proud to say was built with local labour and local resources, is the first step in completing a 15km trail from the Fraser River to the shores of Williams Lake on Scout Island. The next step is the boardwalk project over Williams Creek for which the City has already obtained some grants and applied for others. ”
This bridge was made possible through grants obtained from the Rural Dividend program of BC and the Canada Recreation Program grant. 83% of the project funding came from government grants with the remainder from the City of Williams Lake. This newly opened recreational corridor opens up more of the outdoor spaces that are important to residents of this community. The pedestrian bridge provides excellent viewing of the marsh and inlet and was designed to conserve the natural riparian habitat.
In the Spring, the City will be hosting a Grand Opening celebration for the bridge. City Council now has the exciting task of deciding on an official name for the bridge from the three names provided by our partners at the Williams Lake Indian Band. The naming ceremony is planned to include elected officials, elders and community representatives from both the City and the Williams Lake Indian Band.
Later this year to complete the works the City will make improvements to the Butterfly Trail on Scout Island, install additional fencing and complete some landscaping on both sides of the bridge.
The City would like to thank the Williams Lake Field Naturalists and relevant Provincial Agencies for their support through ongoing dialogue and partnership as we worked to bring this new recreation facility to the residents and visitors of Williams Lake.
