Riding the Okanagan Rail Trail with Matt Vader

Peter Ladner talks to Matt Vader,  Director of Parks, Recreation & Culture, District of Lake Country, about the amazing 50-km Okanagan Rail Trail starting at the north end of Kalamalka Lake and ending at Okanagan Lake in downtown Kelowna.  

Okanagan Rail Trail - Where Will It Take You? 
Learn why this is more than a trail, and how to celebrate and join the community spirit in giving back to this treasured amenity. okanaganrailtrail.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome to BikeSense, the BC Cycling Coalition's podcast where we talk about all things related to cycling advocacy, education, and safety in BC. I'm your host, Peter Ladner. I'm the chair of the board of the BC Cycling Coalition. I hope you enjoy the show. Today I'm talking with Matt Bader, who's the chair of the Okanagan Rail Trail Committee. His day job is he's Director of Parks, Recreation, and Culture for the District of Lake Country. Welcome, Matt.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Thank you, Peter.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

We're going to talk about the Okanagan Rail Trail. And for those of us who have never been on it, Matt, could you just give us a quick overview? What is it?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

So it is a discontinued CN rail corridor that runs from the waterfront in Kelowna to kilometer zero. It's called in Cold Stream. There is a gap that we're working on with our partners, about six kilometers, including an addition to reserve. But for now, it is being used both on the north and south with that with that gap needed.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

So people come in from the north and go to the as far as they can go and go back, and the same from the south, which is in downtown Kelowna.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Downtown Kelowna, exactly. And also in Lake Country, we have a route, a multi-u-use uh corridor called Pelmawash Parkway that does a loop of Wood Lake that connects to the rail trail. So it's about a perfect half-marathon length, so you can actually ride around Wood Lake entirely as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

In a full loop. Oh, how nice. In a full loop, yes. The pictures on your website look fantastic. People going to the by Calamalca Lake, and they can go, you can go swimming and bird watching and all of that. So, how did this come to be?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Similar to many cities within Canada, you know, manufacturing has declined from the peaks of the 70s and 80s, and KPR in 2014 couldn't make a go of it anymore on that line. And CN has their main operating line, which runs uh through cam loops. So discontinued this, and there's a process that offices it federally, provincially, uh, provincial other end agencies, and then the municipalities ourselves, City of Kelowna, Regional District, North Okanagan, and Okanagan Indian Band acquired this uh in June 2015, actually. So tomorrow actually will be the eighth year uh from when we acquired it.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

So how does that happen? Like you just described four different jurisdictions that had to come together. Who's who who got this started, or how did it was it cycling people or municipal elected officials, or who came up with the idea?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

I'd say a little bit of all that. It has been an extremely strong community-driven uh initiative from the very beginning in terms of acquisition. Obviously, the municipal partners, so Kelowna, US, and Regional District, North Okanagan, acquired it financially from uh CN under the acquisition, but the construction of it was actually funded through donations and grants uh completely.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

So let's just start with the acquisition. Uh it you somebody had to come up with was it$22 million?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Approximately, yes. Um that was the three partners. So we had uh appraisals done on each of the sections. So they are fee simple parcels. The rail corridor is, it's not uh continuous. So I I a hundred and there's hundreds of different parcels within there. So the city of Kelowna acquired the parcels that were within the city boundaries, district of late country similarity in our boundaries and regional district, North Okanagan. So they're owned fee simple as a as a registered title with land titles.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

So now you've got the property, and then what happened? You had to get the community had to get together and raise some money to to maintain to degrade it or change the construct a path there. How did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Absolutely. So there was a there's a group called Okanagan Rail Trail Initiative, so ORTI, uh, which was a big fundraising uh spearhead uh led by many members of the community, and they actually were in uh integral in terms of the acquisition, not financially, but in terms of support within the community to show that this is a fantastic opportunity to acquire a contiguous corridor uh 50 kilometers long between two major, fairly major multiple or metropolitan centers between Verdon and Kelowna. Um but they really spearheaded there's bobble drives from schools, there was bake sales, there was pub nights, uh, there was donate per meter. So there's a number of different initiatives through this group that raised um, I believe the fundraising component was five and a half million dollars. And then additionally, to get to our full budget, the remainder was in grants, both provincially and federally.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

And what did you get for that? Describe some of the amenities along the trail.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Uh so it is the discontinued corridors, you know, the rail trail is a portion of the corridor, but obviously there's a railbed. Uh so that was a constructed, engineered surface. So we had we did have it engineered, so it's actually holding up quite well. So you got the soon-to-be entirety of it constructed. Uh, there's also interpretive sites along the way of uh known areas that were important. Uh also there's another offshoot group now called Friends of Okanagan Rail Trail, which is more in terms of stewardship, fundraising for addition different amenities. Uh, there's a site called Colometer Zero that they've been working on with Okanagan Indian Band that identifies the historical significance of that area, uh interpretation uh of Silk uh traditional cultures and continued use of the area, just recognizing we all are on unceded lands and in the Okanagan, it is the uh Silk Okanagan people, so recognizing the importance of uh the traditional lands we're on. Uh so there's a number of initiatives. All of our signs, wayfinding signs, have uh the translation in in silics and um identify different locations along this along the way.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

But let's talk about the there's still some work to do. You've got a gap in this in this, and what is the gap and how are you going to fill it?

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Uh so the gap runs from just north of uh Kelowna Airport into Beaver Lake Rhodes Gulf. So it's about six and a half kilometers. A portion of it uh is within or will be within reserve. So it was back in the 20s removed from reserve. So the process is you know, addition to reserve, so it has to be added back. Um, you know, reserves are held in deemed benefit for indigenous peoples. So it was a big step for an Indigenous community uh to add back and you know, really goes almost against the principles of reserve is inviting the public on it in terms of Okanagan Indian band and their openness to you know engage with the public and openness to uh be a partner with this for the last eight years. So I give them a lot of credit for being able to um, you know, work with work with the public and the community to be an integral partner for what this project is.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

What's your best guess as to when that gap is going to be completed?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

We're actively working with uh the federal government, uh Okanagan Indian Band and the Partners on the Trail. So our our hope is that it is constructed in 2023, that remaining gap.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

So even with the gap, describe the usage of it. You uh there there are many people who do this. Do they do they go for walks to take their dogs? Are they on sort of bike bike tours? Are the tourism operators cashing in on this?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

I'd say a little bit of all the above. Uh if you look at there's different sort of demographics and environments that it uh works through. So downtown Kelowna is uh obviously almost 140,000 people uh city, and this runs right down through the downtown core. Within Kelowna, it is paved, so it is used as an active transportation mode, which is fantastic because there's a number of uh connections, and City of Kelowna's done a fantastic job of highlighting those um integral points where the community can get on and off and cycle through the community or walk through the community, both for recreation and um active transportation. Once you get into, say, north of Kelowna, Passy Airport, uh, you get into lake country, it's a bit more rural, and we we have kept it at an aggregate standard. Uh so there's recreation, there is the transportation, the active transportation, but a lot more recreation. And that's similar to regional district, North Okanagan, the portion that's significantly along Kalamilca Lake. Um, obviously, when you have you know 20 plus kilometers of lakefront, a lot of it being along Kalamilca Lake, it is a great opportunity to get down to the water and see the water in a unique area. So the use is a little bit of it's one of those multi- you know, when you use the term multi-use, it is one of those, one of those corridors that is multi-use, and you can use it for a number of different elements. Walking, riding, uh, both commuting. You know, you can ride from Vernon now without being on a highway to Lake Country if you work in one or the other and live in the other, similar to Kelowna. Um, so again, it's use, you know, walking the dogs, e-bikes, regular bikes, kids, you know, the whole 8 to 80 sort of sequence of, you know, eight-year-olds and 80-year-olds can use it equivalently. It's you know, under 2% grade holistically through it, so it's it's usable for all user groups, as well as people with mobility challenges.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

I want to go. Uh what about in the winter? Do you plow it, sand it?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Uh in Kelowna, so in Kelowna, UBCO is actually on the outskirts of you know where the where the population core is. So it actually is treated as a priority one equivalent of a road, so it is plowed as would be their arterial roads to allow students and faculty to commute both from the population centers to UBCO. So it is heavily used in the winter there. In Lake Country, we um we plow, we'll call it, but it is a you know a gravel surface, so we try not to scrape the top of the surface, but we we plow half of it within the where the majority of the population is to be able to walk without truncing through the ice and snow. And the other side we leave unplowed for opportunities for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing or um whatever people would want to use that component for.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Do you have a special little plow for the paved parts that you have to the city had to get?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Uh it's just a little bit smaller. I wouldn't say it's specialized by any means, but it'd be something that you see more on sidewalk components rather than a big uh snowplow itself, because the surface is approximately four and a half-ish meters. So um I wouldn't suggest putting uh a loaded snow plow in there, but they do use a smaller machine, similar to what we do. We we uh put a basically a rubber wheel on the bottom so it doesn't scrape and it allows it to bounce a little bit, but just on the gravel surface to create a walking path.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So, Matt, there are a lot of communities in BC that have abandoned rail beds. Uh, is there anything you could suggest to them if they want to do something like this in their community? Like best practices or ways to approach CN or get support for this?

SPEAKER_00 10:37

I would say community involvement is absolutely critical and partnership, especially with Indigenous communities. Uh our First Nation partners, obviously, as I said before, we are all on unceded territory uh with NBC with the lack of treaties historically. Um the role of the Indigenous partners is extremely critical in terms of recognizing the relationship between the Crown because of where typically the rail corridors came from back, you know, 100-ish years ago. Uh having the local Indigenous community is extremely important and recognizing historical use of the land. Uh also partnerships. I'd say that between Kelowna, us and Regional District North Okanagan, it's not often that you get municipal partners working on regional initiatives. And I think that that is a key component. It's very rare that you'd have one corridor within one jurisdiction that you have, you know, full autonomy to do what you want. So you have to create relationships both with communities and the other partners to be successful.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

So thinking about your the indigenous communities and partner, is there an actual aside from the land title, are there people actually living in and around this route and is it serving the indigenous communities in any particular way?

SPEAKER_00 11:46

So with Okanagan Indian Band, Duck Lake IR number seven uh is the portion that is looking to be the addition to reserve components. So it would actually, you know, when when we're completed and when we get to that point, actually run through reserve. Um in terms of indigenous peoples in general, I would say that obviously the the corridor and the rail trail itself is open to all people. There's there's no need to uh there is opportunities for interpretation, maybe learning more about uh uh Silk people learning more about Silk uh knowledge that maybe they didn't fully know or haven't spoken to elders about. I think there's opportunities for the signage and the information sharing that would be beneficial for all parties.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

So is there anything uh that you that you think people need to know that you'd like to bring up that I haven't asked you about?

SPEAKER_00 12:36

I think a lot of this is how do we make connections? So if you look at the role that um BC Parks has played, and you look at, say, the TransCanda Trail, um, how do we make connections from all these networks and you know have a holistic cycling network? So it's not just segmented and fragmented. This gives people the ability to see all different types of environment. And I think Okanagan Rail Trail is a perfect example. You've got the urban component, which is mostly in Kelowna, you've got the rural-ish component, which is Lake Country, which is a growing community and has some urban elements, but also rural, and then you've got the portion of uh regional district that does run significantly between a rock face and Kalamelca Lake. You have all these different environmental factors that you can see within one day of riding. I do remember going out the first time I went to this one section on Wood Lake, and there is a large stand of fully mature pine trees, and there were six bald eagles up nesting in this area, and I had never been down there before because it was an active rail line before, and just the ability to see bald eagles nesting, you know, 10 minutes away from the tennis court and the soccer pitch is fantastic to give people that opportunity. Uh, and that's really what we've tried to do with the rail trail is create a vision and an entity, create it as an entity to itself. And what is this persona? What do we want the rail trail to be as a community? That's really been our driving factor is creating this persona and your opportunity to um be in nature and be exposed to all these different things while also being, you know, at the front door of an international airport. It's it's a great opportunity to have many people explore this.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Matt, coming uh speaking as somebody who's living in an urban area, every time someone wants to put a any kind of bike route in or around in and around a city, there's pushback. Have you had any pushback on this or has it been widely supported?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

The District of A country had to go to a referendum to uh borrow the money to acquire the 50%. So we we had to deal with City of Kelowna where they would pay 50%, and District of A country paid 50%, and we uh paid them back that 50% over time. I'd say there's pushback financially, as there is on many things that government does. That's there's never a holistic 100% or 0% support or against. Uh District of LA Country did go to referendum in 2015 to acquire this, and it was the largest voter turnout in the history of any municipal election in late country with a three to one in favor. So 75% um favorable support. So I would say that the community spoke as a whole. Obviously, it's not unanimous uh as no vote really is, but the community as a whole supported the acquisition of that and then the development of it. And again, the role of the community I can't I can't highlight enough in terms of the fundraising and you know the contribution. People feel that it's not been um dictated to them, but they've been a part of it in fundraising, you know, have a bit of an ownership component. And you know, that really leads to stewardship and people taking care of of it as if they they own it themselves, which you know, really as a community and a public, we really they really do, but they take that next step on the contribution with donations and and treat it really as quite a special entity.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So when you look about the care and maintenance of this, uh who does that? You you mentioned community people. Are there volunteers who go and I don't know, clean the outhouses or make sure the picnic tables are working properly?

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Um no, significantly that's part of our parks functions within each of the elements. So we, you know, you need to have mowers, you need to be trained on how to use equipment. It is a 50-kilometer long corridor, so it's not just something that takes an hour here and an hour there. So we do have our park staff maintaining this, trimming back the trees to ensure you know sight lines, picking up garbage. There's uh a number of garbage cans and stopping spots, uh, all-year-round bathrooms, horta potties. So uh we have professional people and employed people, but also the friends of the Okanagan Rail Trail that I mentioned before, a lot of theirs is about stewardship, invasive species. So managing, you know, hound's tooth and um a lot of those different invasive weeds. They they do undertake uh some of that work. We have community groups come out and you know pick a the similar to adopt a road program, they pick a section of the trail and pick up garbage. Uh so I uh there's no one solution. You know, most of the maintenance function is on the municipal staff, which is where it should be as you know, the owner and the responsible party and the the party that has the trained uh staff of that, but there is a lot of community involvement in terms of uh maintenance and operation of it as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Um how much has the community uh has the tourism industry embraced this? Do you are is it being marketed outside the community? Come to Kelowna and enjoy the Okanagan Rail Trail.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Absolutely. So we've been fortunate enough to have a great relationship with Toda, so Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, as well as uh Tourism Vernon and Tourism Kelowna. Uh been successful with all the partners on destination BC grants with Tourism Kelowna on highlighting. And a lot of those videos, if you go to OkanaganRail Trail.ca.com, uh, have been created through those initiatives, uh, looking to identify and highlight the sections of it, what the uses could be, the diverse user groups, both mobility and just demographically. So I think tourism, you know, once we have that connection made, I think it would be a lot even stronger to, you know, show that the connection's there. Um, but I I think that tourism has really benefited and been supportive of it in terms of what this is and the great amendy for the region.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Matt, it sounds like a great amenity for the province. And uh, I'd love to come next time I'm up there for sure. I'm gonna test it out and check it out because uh wow, bald eagles nesting and beaches and easy roads into the city, out of the city, uh, lake views. It sounds fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. And uh I look forward to hearing about the gap getting filled.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Not a problem at all. I appreciate your time and uh your support for cycling initiatives in the province.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Thanks, Matt.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Thanks for listening to BikeSense and supporting Safe Cycling in BC. Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode. BC Cycling Coalition relies on your support to continue our work. Please consider becoming a member and adding your voice to the call for safer and more accessible cycling in BC. Special thanks to our sponsors Strider Bike, Richard Spuell Sutton LLP, and ICBC. Visit us at BCcycling.ca