INNISFAIL – After 20 years of just silently belonging to one of the world’s most exclusive recreational clubs, the signs are up in Innisfail to let locals and all visitors know a lot more loudly that Innisfailians are actively part of the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world.
The Trans Canada Trail (TCT) is more than 28,000 kilometres of greenways, roadways and waterways connecting every Canadian province and territory. The construction of the TCT began in 1992 as part of Canada's 125th birthday celebrations. Innisfail was connected in 2001 but few knew there was a hint of the trail in or around the town because there was not even a single, solidary sign to mark it.
TCT is a national non-profit organization headquartered in Montreal. The organization does not own any section of the trail. Instead, it has worked with hundreds of municipalities across the country to develop its own section. And now finally, the Town of Innisfail is more than just a silent partner. The Town of Olds is soon following as the municipality to the south is now in discussions to have its signage up within the next two years.
Kristen Gabora is TCT’s national manager for infrastructure and connection. She works out of Saskatchewan but was in Innisfail last August to check out the new signage project and the local route.
“Wayfinding signage is an important aspect of the trail to ensure people know they are on the trail, not just for visitors but also for the local community. It’s a sense of pride when you see those signs,” said Gabora. “It’s the feeling when you see that sign and you look at it and you think at any given time, ‘how many people are on the same connected network as me at the same time across Canada?”
Gabora said the most important point of the project for locals and all Canadians is to ensure there is a safe and enjoyable recreational trail experience for everyone, including those utilizing the route through Innisfail.
“Instead of having to go on roadways for part of it and cross at a busy intersection now it’s routed on a beautiful, greenway pathway system, and we will have a nice safe crossing over those railways tracks,” said Gabora. “It will link more of the community and it goes by the lake, and it will be more aesthetically pleasing.”
To get the signage job done in Innisfail, the town entered into discussions with TCT in August of 2020. The trail route through town had to be re-evaluated, signage created and funding secured. Earlier this year the town applied for TCT funding and $60,000 was approved from the organization’s Capital Improvement Program.
“This was a longtime coming,” said Gabora.
Steven Kennedy, Innisfail’s director of operational services, said the grant was used for the signs and a new trail close to a rail crossing.
The new signs will dot the 8.5-kilometre trail route through town that starts in the south from the Cottonwood Road, meanders north along roadways and then going west just past 60th Avenue before circling north past Centennial Park and then east before heading north to the C&R Trail and out of town.
Kennedy said 40 signs were immediately ordered and 35 are now installed. He said another 28 have been ordered.
“We will have it well signed and easy to follow through town,” said Kennedy, adding all the signs should be up by the end of October, with the full TCT trail completed by November, weather permitting.
Gabora said the newly-signed national trail through Innisfail comes at a good time for Innisfailians. She noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic starting more than 20 months ago citizens across the country have been looking for new and safe recreational opportunities, and trails became the right tonic.
She said TCT studies showed trail use in 2021 increased by 40 per cent, and since the beginning of the pandemic, 85 per cent of Canadians have been exploring trails.
“This investment in community is so important at this time, and having these safe and more accessible recreational opportunities,” said Gabora. “TCT loves being in these communities, helping and seeing these projects happen and the joy that comes from them.”
