UPDATE: After months of hard work and dedication, the Midland Bridge, now known as Kohut Crossing, is open! The project, led by the Town of Drumheller’s Infrastructure Services Department, has seen significant progress, with decking, fencing, and grading completed. Solar lighting will be installed to illuminate the pathway on the iconic structure. The Infrastructure Services Department worked to revise the initial engineering for this project to optimize active transportation on this structure, resulting in 90% of cost savings.
The project has been a collaborative effort involving various contractors and contributors, including Gallagher’s Trucking, who has been donating the crushed gravel along the trail from Dollarama to the bridge, and 4 Elements, which has been instrumental in safely securing the area with fencing along the sides of the bridge. In addition, Shane Urrutia, one of the Town’s Utility Workers, donated his time to complete the border along the rig mats, and a local family volunteered to paint over the graffiti on the bridge structure.
Westview Co-op and the Kohut-Colberg family have generously donated to the Rails to Trails program, specifically to convert the rail structure to provide a connection route for the north and south sides of the Valley. “Darrell, Dean and I wanted to honour our late parents, John and Irene Kohut, as well as our older brother, John Jr.,” shares Heather Colberg. “They loved Drumheller and the community so much. Giving back to the Valley in their name means so much to all of us.”
The Kohut Crossing is intended for active transportation, focusing on providing a safe and enjoyable environment for pedestrians and cyclists. To maintain the area’s integrity, all motorized vehicles, including ATVs, snowmobiles, and motorcycles, will be prohibited.
-Submitted by the Town of Drumheller-
A major piece of the new rail trail in Drumheller is the former CN bridge between Newcastle and Midland.
The bridge, now known as Kohut Crossing, is attaining its final steps before opening to the public by early October. The planking of the bridge is complete. Crews are now working to install chain-link fence on both sides of the planks for safety purposes. On Tuesday, September 24th, members of the Kohut family, representatives of the Rails To Trails Task Force, Councillors, and representatives from the Town of Drumheller were on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Crystal Sereda, Councillor for the Town of Drumheller and a representative on the Rails To Trails Task Force was quite excited for this moment. “It is very exciting. This has been a long time in the works and finally were here to connect both sides of the valley with this bridge. I live in Midland and I can now take this bridge to the other side and see my friends in Nacmine, or go all the way to town. Right now, this is the perfect opportunity to open it because the colours down the Red Deer River valley are beautiful and lots of people have never seen the view from here.”
The Rails To Trails Task Force worked diligently to try to raise as much funds as possible to make this trail a reality and Sereda is pleased the work the Task Force was able to complete. “Our Task Force has been incredible with fundraising, doing events, and really pushing this project. The excitement behind it and the support from the community is unbelievable. Like always, the Drumheller community really supports anything we believe in.”
Having this link across the river creates another tourism avenue for the Drumheller Valley admits Sereda. “I sure noticed this summer how many more bikers were in town, and families. This is a great loop for families to do, it’s now safe. It’s a good loop to do to town or to the museum and back. This is going to be a huge tourism piece as well.”
Kohut Crossing would not have been able to be completed as quickly without the support of the Kohut family and Westview Co-op. The bridge is not quite open to the public but is anticipated to be available for use for pedestrians and bicycles by early October.
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