CALEB NICKERSON
MRC PONTIAC Feb. 3, 2021
At the special MRC Pontiac council meeting on Feb. 3, MRC engineer Kim Lesage presented a report on the PPJ trail.
Over the 2020 season, just over $250,000 was spent keeping up the trail, with roughly half of that figure paid by the MRC and the other half paid through the provincial Route Verte Fund.
The majority of the expense was materials for . . .
repairing the trail, more than $200,000.
Speaking to THE EQUITY after the meeting, Lesage said that there had been an assessment several years ago highlighting the condition of all the culverts along the trail, and prioritizing ones that needed replacement. She said that they had recently completed changing out the last of them and could focus on putting down stone dust.
“We’ve finished replacing all the culverts that were in bad condition last year, there was only one left,” she said. “They were all in acceptable condition, so now we’re going to focus on resurfacing.”
Lesage said that over the last year they had added stone dust to around five kilometres on L’Isle aux Allumettes as well as a few kilometres between Shawville and Campbell’s Bay. She said that the trail on the island was in rough shape, and is also a popular loop for visitors to the region, which is why it was prioritized. She added that they are routinely assessing the conditions of the trail and prioritizing the roughest patches for repairs.
On a positive note, Lesage said that she believed the pandemic restrictions led to a large increase in people using the trail.
“I had a lot more questions than usual and every time that I drive by the main gate and things like that I seem to see more people. Even here in Vinton, I’d see people running and walking on the trial,” she said.
“I think it was used a lot more, due to the confinement.”
