The Infrastructure and Economic Development Committee has recommended City Council approve this land as the future site of the North Bike Skills Park (Photo: Shaun Penner)

By Shaun Penner

City Hall

City committee earmarks site for bike skills park at Crystal Lake Park

Nov 25, 2020 | 6:34 PM

A bike skills park could be coming to the southwest part of Crystal Lake Park, along Lakeland Drive.

A site for the park was endorsed by City Hall’s Infrastructure and Economic Development Committee at Tuesday’s meeting. It voted to recommend City Council approve the site to be the home of Grande Prairie’s second such bike park.

Transportation and Parks Manager with the City of Grande Prairie Robert Carroll says that with the heavy usage of the park at South Bear Creek, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear to his department a second bike park was needed.

“The need for another one was evident, and something removed from the existing one was the intent with this,” said Carroll.

With that, Carroll adds they prefer for the park to be on the north side of the City.

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He also says having close proximity to the city’s trail system and not having the park hidden from street view, for safety reasons, were among the top criteria when searching for the right parcel of land. He thinks this is something Crystal Lake Park can provide, among other things.

“With the Crystal Lake Park adjacent to it, there are already parking facilities there and there are washroom facilities,” added Carroll. “Development adjacent to those just seemed to make a lot of sense.”

Carroll presented two possible sites for the park, both located along the southwest part of Crystal Lake. Site 1 was recommended by Carroll to the committee. It was approved by the committee, as it was street facing and would also not disrupt land utilized by members of the local Indigenous community for the foraging of traditional plants used for smudging ceremonies, as is the case for site two.

Site one has been recommended by the city committee (Photo: City of Grande Prairie / Google Maps)

However, Site 1’s proximity to the shores of Crystal Lake could create a disturbance to wildlife such as swans and their nests, along with other shorebirds like geese.

“We will certainly consult with all parties and make sure that any disruption to the habitats or any of the infrastructure that’s there will be either avoided or kept very minimal, due to the sensitive nature of the area,” Carroll told the committee.

The project was approved by Grande Prairie City Council in September to be 80 per cent funded from the joint federal/provincial Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program’s (ICIP) COVID-19 Resilience Stream Grant. The City is required to pay the remaining 20 per cent of the total project cost, which is estimated at $300,000.

The caveat to receiving the money, as it is intended as economic stimulus funding, is that the project must be completed and fully paid for by the end of 2021.

“To be honest, this park was not quite on our radar yet, it was more of a long-term project,” said Carroll “But, when the other levels of government provide these programs, sometimes it kickstarts some of these projects that might be a little bit further into the future.”

Should the site be approved by Grande Prairie City Council, Carroll says construction will likely start in the spring.