THERE'S still plenty of work to do on the Fromme Mountain Trails and Forest Management Project, even after installing 100 new sign posts, three kiosks and mapping 62 kilometres of trails.
District of North Vancouver staff say the next big projects include staging areas with parking to get mountain users out of residential areas, and new mountain bike connections to help deal with conflicts.
Staff suggested new mountain bike connections from the top of Braemar to trails on the other side of Fromme, as well as a bypass to allow mountain bikers to avoid Mountain View Park, where conflicts between mountain bikers and other users have been particularly pronounced. That connection would cost $20,000.
A staging area with gravel parking and restrooms could be built for $250,000 at the top of Mountain Highway and $200,000 at the top of Braemar, the two preferred locations. The Braemar location, however, would require a new trail to connect to the rest of the mountain at $100,000.
To date, $790,000 has been spent on the program since 2006, of which $265,000 came from the federal government.
That total includes funds to restore the forest and decommission many of the illegally built trails in the area, as well as six kilometres of trails staff felt were poorly situated. Several logging roads that had been washed out were also removed.
Staff said there is also a need to reallocate funds to help maintain the trails over the long term, though much of that work is also being done by volunteers, such as the North Shore Mountain Bike Association's trail adoption program. A seasonal maintenance crew costs about $60,000.
There was strong appetite from council to plan further trail improvements, in particular a diversion around Mountain View Park. But the staging areas met with some resistance at the workshop organized to give staff feedback on the topic Monday evening.
Mayor Richard Walton warned against building parking at the top of Mountain Highway due to traffic concerns, arguing, "If you turn that to a staging area you're going to create a monster."
