Transforming a St. Albert park into a bicycle skills park, equipped with jumps, trails and challenging terrain, is getting the full support of area mountain bikers.
The $200,000 development is being planned for either Liberton Park or Mission Park (Seven Hills). Both proposed sites have noticeable benefits and drawbacks for local enthusiasts.
Mountain biker and owner of Cranky’s Bike Shop Andrew Phelps said he prefers the Seven Hills location, as it is central, safe to access and joins with the city’s paved trails.
“The Liberton area right there is a lot busier by St. Albert Trail,” he said. “If kids are riding to (Seven Hills), it would be a little bit more ride friendly.”
Phelps said, however, he will be a definite user of the park, regardless of location. He said he expects the park to draw in crowds from the Edmonton area as well, as there is a shortage of mountain biking facilities.
“I think it’s a great project for the community and it kind of shows that the city is behind biking and an active lifestyle,” he said.
Tracy Shearer, bike manager at St. Albert Source for Sports, agreed that the Seven Hills location is ideal.
“It’s a good location and it’s not being used for anything else,” he said. “Seven Hills is popular in the winter time, but in the summer time it’s pretty quiet.”
He said St. Albert is making the right move by developing the park, following communities like Devon and Sherwood Park.
“I think they should make a park here, definitely. A lot of the communities are going that way,” Shearer said. “Anytime they build some sort of park for kids, I think it’s great.”
Mountain biker Cliff Olson said the Liberton Park location is the best fit for the proposed bicycle skills park.
“It’s a little crowded down at Seven Hills, between the school and the baseball diamond,” he said. “It’s a reasonable space, but I don’t know if it’s big enough to accommodate what they’re trying to do easily, without conflict.”
While providing cyclists with a facility to strengthen their skills, the park will also have a positive impact on the local economy, Olson said.
“Build it and they will come. If (the city does) it right, it has a lot of positive economic benefits,” he said, adding individuals from other areas who use the facility will likely contribute to area businesses.
The City of St. Albert gathered input from area residents via an online survey following an open house in late November. When the survey ended last Friday, 220 people had provided their input, said community projects co-ordinator Micah Seon-King.
Although the results are in, she said she couldn’t comment on which park was the preferred choice.
A final selection and park design is set to go to council Jan. 28. If approved, the park is expected to be open for use by next summer.
Preliminary studies concluded that between 60 and 75 people would use the park each day between April and November, with increased traffic in summer months.
Seon-King said the city wanted to be the first municipality in the greater Edmonton area to establish a bike skills park, although Devon and Sherwood Park beat St. Albert to the punch.
The city has been planning the project since 2009, with site selection eating up the last 18 months. Because no location has been chosen to date, the project lost out on between $25,000 and $100,000 in potential grants.
