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Path of crushed rock to replace wooden Boardwalk

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

A path of crushed rock will soon replace the wooden section of Flinty's Boardwalk. The announcement comes amid safety concerns and an influx of $180,000 that makes the project feasible this summer. "The boardwalk has been very popular," said Dave Price, chair of the Flinty Committee, which oversees the boardwalk. "It's just the fact of Ross Lake, spectacular scenery and a great opportunity to get some exercise and fresh air, and what we're doing now is not going to change that at all." See 'Mounds' P.# Con't from P.# Beginning in the near future, city workers and contractors will dismantle the 500-metre wooden walkway and remove all of its footings. Mounds of crushed rock will be poured along the area, roughly to the height of the current structure. This path will connect with the existing gravel portion of the popular trail. The finished trail will be about 10 feet wide - four feet wider than the current walkway - and include lighting as well as picnic areas overlooking Ross Lake. The dozens of personalized planks - the signature feature of the boardwalk - will be re-mounted on stringers embedded in the crushed rock surface. Meanwhile, the arch identifying the walkway as "Flinty's Boardwalk" will be moved closer to Third Avenue in hopes of making the path more visible to passersby. The "Flinty's Boardwalk Rejuvenation Project," as it is called, is expected to take four to five weeks to complete. The work will not impact the staircases at the north end of the trail. While this alteration may displease some residents, Price said it makes sense. "The boardwalk structure, which is of course made of wood, is obviously not going to last forever," he said. "It takes a lot of maintenance and the maintenance is done by volunteers, and of course volunteers are sometimes hard to find." Then there are the city's safety concerns, which began surfacing last year after crowds were barred from watching the Canada Day fireworks along the walkway. Director of Works and Operations Rick Bacon said areas of the supporting structure beneath the boardwalk are "ready to fail" due to years of usage and shifting in the ground, while the integrity of the railing is "in question." He is looking forward to seeing the project completed. "It's going to enhance that area tremendously," said Bacon. "It's going to make things more accessible for wheelchairs and strollers. It's going to provide a safer walking surface as well as areas where people are going to be able to enjoy the fireworks and events where there are going to be crowds." The city and the provincial government have allocated a preliminary amount of $180,000 for the work. The funds had originally been set aside for refrigerated flooring at the Uptown Curling Rink, but when estimates for that project proved much higher than anticipated, the cash was reallocated. For more than a dozen years, Flinty's Boardwalk has been a favoured destination of active residents and tourists alike. The first phase of the boardwalk was completed in 1994, with then-mayor Graham Craig and the late Del Baird helping lead the way. In 1999, a staircase was built at the north end of Ross Lake, stretching the trail to the North Avenue ball park. A couple of years later, two additional sets of stairs were constructed for a footpath up on the rocks. Additional details of the Flinty's Boardwalk Rejuvenation Project will be made available at a public informational meeting tomorrow, July 26, at the City Hall Council Chambers beginning at 7 p.m.

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