Re: Converting the railway to bike path between Armstrong and Sicamous.
It seems ironic that there is so much energy being expended for the aforementioned project.
When the actual railway line was in limbo these past five years, it was a golden opportunity for community leaders to obtain the line and keep it as such for future industrial development in the North Okanagan. Nothing came of this.
As a result of the abandonment of this transportation corridor, we now see more heavy truck traffic (grain and fertilizer) on a piece of road that is not the best for this type of traffic.
It is a proven fact that railways provide a safer method of hauling goods and use only a third of the fuel to transport the equivalent ton of freight.
Railways are not subsidized like highways are and must bear the brunt of heavy maintenance costs while paying heavy taxes on secondary lines.
This seems like a lost opportunity for this area, for once the line is gone, there is little likelihood of ever getting it back in the future. A bicycle trail is a poor trade-off.
Len Vandergucht