River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

Moving the Odell park plan closer to action

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A little more than a year ago the city wrapped up the master plan for Odell Park. We let you know what we thought of it at the time. Now we’ve got an update.

Progress was slow during the pandemic but this summer the city and RVC have reengaged to talk about moving towards implementation. We’ve walked trails in the park with city staff, talking about both issues and opportunities. We met with them again in the park in July, and we now understand a little more about the future of the trails. RVC has been asked to propose an implementation plan that sticks true to the objectives of the master plan, reflects our discussions on the ground.

Here’s what we know:

  • Many of the existing trails will stay although there are issues to address through signage, improvements, or small re-routes.
  • There are opportunities for new connections – particularly where new builds would avoid sensitive areas and better link existing trails.
  • We can expect the city to close ‘Evil Streambed’. This one is of particular concern for Phyllis creek. That trail seems destined to be decommissioned and revegetated in the future.
  • RVC will be a partner in implementation, but work will need to be supervised by city staff.

Once we’ve put in RVC’s implementation proposal it will need to be approved by city staff (and possibly council).

This is a good outcome for the Odell park planning process that began way back in 2017 and had a few rocky stretches along the way. Riders could be in a very different position right now. We believe the city should demonstrate progress in 2021 by giving us the ok to put the existing trails back on Trailforks and allowing us to do some leaf-blowing this fall. We’ll include that in our proposal.

We’ll need help from RVC members. Rogue trail work won’t be helpful at this point. If you’ve got good ideas that you’d like to see in our trail proposal, or if you’d like to get involved when/if work starts happening – please get in touch with us! The balance in Odell is fragile. Remember to share the trails and use good rider etiquette.

Please let us know what you think… and join RVC!

Odell Park’s Plan – What does it mean for riders?

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On July 13th Fredericton’s city council unanimously passed the final park plans for Odell park and Killarney Lake park after considerable debate. Both plans contain a future for mountain biking in Fredericton, so long as the trails are designed sustainably and riders consider themselves as responsible partners in park stewardship and use.

This is a remarkable development if you consider where we were as a riding community a few short months ago. Riders approached the consultations on these plans from a vulnerable position. City Councillors were on record calling for a ban on mountain biking in Odell park and organized community groups were actively campaigning to portray the cycling community as reckless vandals in the park responsible for irreversible damage to old growth forests. Mountain biking stories in the local media focused on conflict.

Earlier drafts of the plan called for the immediate and summary decommissioning of all existing single track. For many of us who learned to love riding in Odell park it was an unexpected and hurtful punch that left us wondering how this happened. That narrative flies in the face of what we knew about our fellow riders. You care for the environment, you share the trails, and you benefit the larger community. We had to set the record straight.

Riders were not happy and so RVC set to work on your behalf this spring. You spoke up to the City — and they listened. The door opened for the club to meet with park staff and contribute constructive ideas about how the trail network could transition to sustainable outcomes. We spoke about ways to minimize environmental impact and maximize the benefit to Fredericton’s outdoor community. We worked with staff to improve the draft plan, keeping it focused on conserving Odell park’s forest, while securing access for the next generation of mountain bike riders. We saw our suggestions reflected in the plan passed by City Council.

The hard work of compromise and collaboration is yet to come. We and the City recognize the need for good-faith implementation on all sides as being the key to long-term success. The Park Plans provide a conceptual framework for ongoing collaboration to guide action on the ground.

Our understanding is that a secondary plan will be developed that will address trails in Odell. There will be the opportunity for further dialogue as the secondary plan is developed. RVC expects the city will assemble a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts, trail builders, hikers, runners, and park staff to inform decisions about which existing trails get improved, which get rerouted away from sensitive areas, and which get retired and returned to the forest. The same team will help design new single-track that replaces what is retired. We are excited to see that start. RVC will approach the discussion with an open mind, with an expectation that trails may change but riding will remain a part of the park. We’ll bring evidence and experience to the discussion and we’ll expect no less from the other groups that will participate in the process. We know that the potential impacts of mountain biking can be effectively managed.

It’s not certain what changes will come but we could imagine and support:

  • Better signage, better seasonal debris clean-up, and more visible signs of management.
  • Trails being re-routed out of riparian areas and watercourse crossings installed.
  • Seasonal closures for all user-groups when soils are wet and prone to erosion.
  • Sections of trail being designated for foot traffic only
  • New names for trails that we are familiar with.
  • In some cases, trails with significant conservation issues being decommissioned and returned to the forest to regenerate.
  • New trails, purpose-built, and ready for riding bikes.

If there are trails that need to be decommissioned and regenerated, the plan speaks to a principle that new trail building will follow the same pace.

RVC will need your support for what comes next. We’ll rely on you to supply ideas, and to show up and volunteer when the time comes to move dirt or plant trees. If you’re not already an RVC member we need you to join. Most of all, we all need to act as ambassadors for the sport every time we mount our bikes in Odell park. There will be a lot of expectations to exceed over the next year. The club will be in touch with park staff and we’ll report back with more specifics about the roll-out of this plan.

You provided input and the City listened. This is a win.

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association