First phase of upgrades to popular hiking trail near Nanaimo complete
The first phase of upgrades to Benson Creek Falls Regional Park intended to improve safety and accessibility is now complete, and the affected section of trail has reopened for use.
Improvements included a new, 40-stall parking lot with kiosk centre on Weigles Road, as well as viewing platforms, wooden staircases and railings on both sides of a steep ravine. A 30-metre bridge now connects the two sides of the ravine.
The bridge, which runs over Benson Creek, was prefabricated and had to be airlifted into place back in March.
Construction on the popular trail – which is located just outside the harbour city, within the Regional District of Nanaimo – started last year.
“It’s a pretty special site, going down a ravine and Ammonite Falls is really breathtaking,” says Yann Gagnon, manager of parks services for the RDN. “It all made sense to improve it for everybody to enjoy it.”
The upgraded section means it will take visitors approximately 15 minutes to get the bottom of the ravine from the Weigles Rd parking lot and another 15 minutes to get to Ammonite Falls.
The final phase of improvements is expected to begin this July and are intended to improve access to Ammonite Falls. Upgrades will include a viewing platform at the falls, and are expected to be complete in late October or early November.
The whole project will cost $1.1 million.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.