Nova Scotia trail to receive major upgrades, but at the cost of restricting who can use it

For decades, nature lovers on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore have had full access to a roughly seven-kilometre trail that sits on an old railway bed.

This spring, the Gaetz Brook Connector Trail is going to undergo the first stages of a major upgrade project — but not everyone will receive its benefits.

Since the trail first opened, it has been accessible to all types of users, from walkers to all-terrain vehicles (ATV). But once the upgrades are complete, the trail will only be accessible to “active transportation” users.

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“I won’t be able to use this trail for what I want anymore, and a lot of us are getting older, we have arthritis issues,” said Chris Hughes, a lifelong Eastern Shore resident.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I won't be able to use this trail for what I want anymore, and a lot of us are getting older, we have arthritis issues," said Chris Hughes, a lifelong Eastern Shore resident.

Hughes, along with several community members he petitioned, aren’t in favour of the trail being stripped of its ATV use.

In particular, he says he’ll lose access to other trails he can connect to in its current format.

“We started using the ATV’s to access our hunting and fishing spots right next to us, and never had a problem with anybody,” he said.

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The Shore Active Transportation Association (SATA) is leading the project that sits on crown land.

“There’s three bridges and those will be upgraded this year and then we’re going to go ahead, as soon as possible, with the detail design work to look at how we have to build up the trail,” said Patricia Richards, a member of SATA.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's three bridges and those will be upgraded this year and then we're going to go ahead, as soon as possible, with the detail design work to look at how we have to build up the trail," said Patricia Richards, a member of SATA.

The group submitted an application to the Department of Natural Resources to get clearance to proceed with their vision for the trail’s future.

“We applied for a non-motorized trail, or more importantly, a green-way,” Richards said.

“There are many trails throughout the province which are multi-use trails, open to the use of off-highway vehicles,” wrote Bruce Nunn, a spokesperson with the Department of Natural Resources, in an email explaining the department’s decision to limit the use of the trails.

“The department was guided in its decision-making on the trail use by on the ground conditions and community consultations,” Nunn wrote.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The department was guided in its decision-making on the trail use by on the ground conditions and community consultations," Nunn wrote.

That is a hard pill to swallow for folks like Hughes.

“The bottom line, let’s share it. We all live here, we all pay taxes, let’s share it,” he said.