Work on a walking trail from Blackfalds to Lacombe is on schedule for a fall completion.
Phil Lodermeier, Lacombe County’s director of operations, said a pair of boardwalks at Lacombe Lake and near the Canada Agriculture Research Centre are nearly done and construction of the connecting trail began last week.
“We’re hoping by the end of August we’ll have the trail constructed,” he said. “We have a tender out for the paving of it that closes next week.
“We’re hoping by the end of September it’s built and paved.”
Lodermeier predicts visitors will like what they see.
“I think it’s spectacular in some areas. It will be great for anybody who wants exercise or to see nature.”
The six-km link is a $700,000 project.
It was hoped that the trail could be done last year. But last-minute land negotiations and the wet spring that tied up county work crews caused delays and the project was put off until this year.
A pedestrian bridge over the Blindman River and two km of trails were completed south of Blackfalds in 2010 as the first leg of the project.
In 2009, a similar bridge over the Battle River was finished as part of the longer term plan to build a 70-km link between Penhold and Ponoka.