Owen Sound council wants to find out if there are options to reopen Nine Bends Trail quickly.
In addition to allocating up to $70,000 for an engineering assessment to consider long-term remeditation options for the trail, council passed a motion during its multi-year capital plan meeting Tuesday morning for immediate consultation work on temporary solutions to re-enable use.
Nine Bends Trail is a sloped walkway that connects Greenwood Cemetery to 1st Street West — near the entrance to Harrison Park. It is currently closed over public safety concerns from slope failure, which has impacted drainage and brought down several trees. A few sink holes have also appeared along the trail over the last several years.
The city will spend up to $10,000 for engineering consulting on options to make the trail safe for use again in the short-term, while also forging ahead with preparations for longer-term remediation work.
“I think it’s worth it if we can get some results that get the trail opened up for a portion of the year and get people the heck off Harrison Park hill, which is a terrible hill for pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrians I’ve seen using it in winter pulling wagons in front of snowplows,” says Owen Sound Deputy Mayor Scott Greig. “I would support us trying everything we can in the short-term to find some immediate funds to respond and make it usable.”