Trails Harbour Passage-type pathway among three choices offered by Brunswick Pipeline
Brunswick Pipeline president Robin McAdam looks at a diagram of a proposed improvement to the Lily Lake trail system. It is one of the three choices for improvements to the Rockwood Park trail system the pipeline company is offering Saint Johners.
John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - Brunswick Pipeline is offering citizens three choices for improvements to Rockwood Park, including a Harbour Passage-style trail around Lily Lake. "The opportunity that comes with doing the Lily Lake trail is making it accessible to everyone," said company spokeswoman Susan Harris.
Brunswick Pipeline president Robin McAdam said he had no favourite among the three choices, because it was up to the community, but the signage at an open house Monday at Lily Lake Pavilion said the preferred choice was to make the Lily Lake trail something special.
The other choices are to upgrade the park's entire trail system, but to a lesser extent than if only Lily Lake was done, or to create a trail along the natural gas pipeline's right-of-way, as had been the original plan.
Brunswick Pipeline, a subsidiary of Emera Inc., is building a natural gas pipeline from the under-construction Canaport LNG terminal, to the existing Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline near St. Stephen. A 2.4-kilometre section of the 145-kilometre pipeline route will follow existing power transmission lines through Rockwood Park from an entrance point off the Saint John Throughway to an exit along Sandy Point Road. In return, Brunswick Pipeline committed to developing a specialized construction and restoration plan for the 2,200-acre park, as part of $5.3 million in endowments to the city.
The company struck a Rockwood Park planning committee that included Brunswick Pipeline staff and resource personnel and representatives from the city, the Saint John Horticultural Association, the Atlantic Coastal Action Program Saint John and a resident who lived near the park. The committee hosted a workshop early this month to gather public input and share initial plans. Based partially on those meetings, the committee came back with three options.
The Lily Lake choice, pitched by the Horticultural Association, would see a three-metre-wide asphalt trail entirely around the lake. "It is anticipated Lily Lake Trail will become the 'Harbour Passage' of Rockwood Park, encouraging more people to walk, cycle and run for exercise and enjoyment," a company placard read.
It would complete a "missing link" by adding a trail on the pavilion side of the lake, and would include a new path that would avoid a steep section that exists at the lake's northwest corner. The entire pathway would have a grade of less than five per cent, and would include benches and lookouts. Shrubs and trees would also be planted along the edge to protect the lake.
The option to enhance the trail system as a whole includes enhancing existing trails and converting old roads to trails. It would include a lookout at Mayflower Lake and would create a "western loop" by linking up trails. "It would be a little hodgepodge of a lot of things," Harris said.
The original plan to place a trail system over the pipeline route does not seem likely. The public didn't like it at the workshop, and the company notes that it is too steep for cycling, prone to erosion, and a relatively uninteresting trail experience since it is basically a straight line. It also runs underneath NB Power transmission lines.
The public will get another chance to see the options in person today from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., also at the Lily Lake Pavilion. Said McAdam, the Brunswick Pipeline president: "Rockwood Park has been an important dimension of this project and we're very interested in the public feedback that we get."
