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New staging area could be in the future for Beaver River Trestle

The Riverland Recreational Trail Society is looking at making the Beaver River Trestle more accessible to those stopping to admire the scenery.
21.news.Iron Horse Trail
There might be a new staging area in the future for southwest of the Beaver River Bridge. The addition would include parking for families who want to walk to the trestle on foot.

The Riverland Recreational Trail Society is looking at making the Beaver River Trestle more accessible to those stopping to admire the scenery.


The organization is responsible for the maintenance and development of staging areas along the Iron Horse Trail, and over the years they have noticed a growing need to improve accessibility for those wanting to view the trail by foot.


They’re proposing creating a parking lot and staging area by the southwest end of the Beaver River Trestle, a project they hope could deter people from driving onto the trail itself.


“We have gone through some pretty great lengths to try and keep traffic off of the trail, because, of course, it’s not allowed and there is a $1,000 fine for driving your vehicle on the trail. However we also realize there are a lot of people who want to go out and see the trestle, be able to walk on it, look around, and use the viewing platform,” said Marianne Janke, administrative coordinator for Northeast Muni-Corr.


She added, “It’s a beautiful spot, and the trestle itself is a wonderful and historical piece for our region. It’s also right under the flight path from the Cold Lake air base, so there’s lots of different planes that go over there, and it’s a really nice spot.”


Muni-Corr already owns the piece of land they have been considering for the parking and staging area.


According to Janke, they’ve had it for a number of years and just haven’t done anything with it to this point.


“We are in the very preliminary stages, it’s almost just an idea at this point, but we’re very interested in developing a little bit of a parking lot there so people have a way to get off of the road,” she added. 


Through this project, they’re hoping to keep families safe, and give them closer access to the trail.


Right now, families wanting to enjoy the bridge either do so by OHV or parking on the road and hiking over a quarter of a mile to the trestle.


“We don’t really have an area to park, so people are parking on the edge of the road, which isn’t very safe,” Janke said. 


The City of Cold Lake is considering their options when it comes to the Cold Lake staging area, which is located along 47 Ave.


During their corporate priorities meeting on Tuesday, May 15, they discussed improving the area to make it more appealing.


“This really got my thinking about our staging area,” said Coun. Duane Lay. “There’s opportunities for development. We need to have a vision for our staging area. What do we want there?”


His suggestion, was adding an old train with a short amount of track.


“I just think this is something we need to do to develop this. We need to have a plan of what we want and how we’re going to go about this,” he stressed. “Now is the time to do it. Everybody talks about tourism, but I think if there’s one thing you can do in Cold Lake to attract tourists here, I think this might be a good opportunity.”

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