New bike skills park in river valley gets green light from Edmonton city council
11-2 decision means the Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance can start construction
The Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance has received the final approvals needed from city council in order to start building a skills park on the site of a former wastewater treatment plant in Queen Elizabeth Park.
The EMBA has called the decision a big win for Edmonton riders.
"Next stop: shovels in the ground!" the group said in a social media post Wednesday.
The free park, intended to be a place where mountain bikers can learn and practise skills, will include trails, a looped asphalt track and an area for jumps.
The $1.2-million project has been funded through donor contributions and grants from the municipal and provincial governments.
Eleven council members voted to approve the skills park on Wednesday morning, with Jo-Anne Wright and Karen Principe, who represent Ward Sspomitapi and Ward tastawiyiniwak, respectively, voting against it.
Principe said she thinks that the park will be a wonderful addition to the city but she was not convinced the location, southeast of the Walterdale Bridge, was the right place for it and Wright made similar comments during the council meeting.
"Other locations really haven't been considered that might be actually even more accessible for people," she said.
City council approved a master plan for Queen Elizabeth Park, which included a bike skills park, in 2013.
Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford said before the vote that council should respect the decision that was made then because pivoting at the last minute would create distrust and uncertainty for community members who have been working on the project.
The Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition has argued the park would be destructive and launched a petition asking council to find a more ecologically sound location for it. As of Wednesday, the group's petition had more than 500 supporters.
Kristine Kowalchuk told CBC News on Wednesday the coalition is extremely disappointed with the city council decision, calling it "another major blow to the river valley."
A recent city report said an environmental impact assessment identified some potential environmental impacts from the project but estimated the cumulative impacts to be low to moderate.
A site location study concluded the skills park would not cause significant environmental impacts.
Rutherford said directing bikers to a specific area could help protect the river valley by reducing use on unauthorized trails.
"There are areas I'd like to see completely blocked off from bikers so that there can be restoration and naturalization in other parts of the river valley, but I think in order to do that, you need to give people a space to go," she said.
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