As more than 2 million people use Saskatoon’s Meewasin Trail each year, it is important that the trails are as safe, accessible, and well-kept as possible.

That’s the message from Alan Otterbein, Meewasin’s Manager of Design and Development. Using several grants from the federal and provincial governments, Trans-Canada Trail, and the City of Saskatoon, Meewasin has been upgrading sections of trail in Kiwanis Memorial Park.

Last year, construction wrapped up at the south end of the park, bringing wider, more accessible trails.

Now, construction is currently underway further north on the trail, directly behind the Delta Bessborough Hotel. The upgrades, which began last week, will result in a split trail, a 4 metre-wide promenade near the water’s edge, and two new lookouts.

“The current trail through there is quite narrow. We have lots of existing mature trees in that zone, so it’s a fairly narrow strip of land that we’re dealing with,” he explains. “What we want to do is replace that existing trail, widen it as much as we can, but because of those trees, we can’t really widen it too much, so we are going to add a promenade on the river side.”

Trail users will have to detour around the front of the Delta Bessborough for the duration of the project, which will take place until winter weather sets in, and pick up in the spring if need be.

After this section is complete, improvements will continue north up the trail. Upgrades include trail replacements, widening, implementing additional lookouts, and providing an accessible access point from 23rd Street.

“We’ll be heading north in and around where the big water fountain is there below the rink, north of the Bessborough,” Otterbein says. “As we head north to 24th Street, we’re doing some updates there as well. Widening to improve the flow through there and improving accessibility. Currently, it’s quite narrow and steep and has poor sight lines, so we’re fixing that up, as well.”

Otterbein says Meewasin does have its own funding, but not nearly enough for projects like these. He adds that often they rely on individual donors, corporate donors, and government grants.