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Work on Spirit Trail through Mosquito Creek to finish in early 2018

City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto says the last and possibly most critical piece of the Spirit Trail should be ready for pedestrians and cyclists in the new year.
spirit trail

City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto says the last and possibly most critical piece of the Spirit Trail should be ready for pedestrians and cyclists in the new year.

The City of North Vancouver and the Squamish Nation struck a deal in 2014 for the Spirit Trail to cross the Mosquito Creek Marina, which is Squamish territory.

“It’s under construction. They’re doing pile-driving right now,” Mussatto said. “We’re still looking at the end of February or early March as the soft opening date.”

When it opens next year, the shared path will go underneath the marina’s working boat lift. That makes it a unique spot on 21,452-kilometre The Great Trail, (formerly known as the Trans Canada Trail.)

“This will be the only section of the trail in all of Canada that will be below sea level. They’ve got trails going through mountains. They’ve got trails going through recreation centres,” Mussatto said.

But that also has made it uniquely difficult and expensive to design, having to account for storm surges and sea level rise.

The initial cost estimate was $3 million. The city now expects the total cost to come out at $5.9 million, $400,000 of which is covered by a provincial grant. They’ve also had to time the work around the marina’s operations as well as the federal fisheries window, putting the project behind schedule.

“Dealing with the interface between water and land is very tricky,” Mussatto said. “It’s not simply digging a trench, putting in some walls, pouring some concrete and it’s done. It’s much more complex than that.”

But it will be worth it Mussatto said, when residents and visitors can cross almost all of North Vancouver along a single, car-free trail.

“It’s a real critical component. It’s the last missing piece,” he said. “It’s going to be spectacular. I think it’s going to equal the Stanley Park seawall.”

Mussatto credits the leadership of the Squamish Nation for making that last connection possible.

“(It was) the hardworking members of the Squamish Nation and their chief and council that made this happen,” he said.