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Letters: Disappointed with cycling trail upgrades

Why they used three different grades of gravel is beyond me.
trail work
Dike Trail (North portion and River Road) with new rock and old surface.

Editor:

Recently the City of Delta has laid down gravel along the entire Brunswick Point trail, as well as the dike trail along river road between 34th St. and roughly 30B St.

While the intent is likely a noble one by the city to improve the trail, in the process, they have effectively rendered the trail all but useless to cyclists due to the fact on much of the trail they have used coarse rocks that are loose causing bicycle tires to sink in the rocks like quicksand. This despite their futile efforts to compact the material with a steam roller.

The baffling part is that in the section from the southern end of the dike trail at the Canoe Pass hydro substation/Delta Port northward up to 34th St. the material is fine and compacted well and what should have been used along the entire stretch. From there to the end of 31st Ave. the material becomes coarse, but is still rideable, however thereafter, all the way north for a few km to the beginning of the trail and then the River Road section to 34B St., is covered with rough, coarser/larger gravel that is extremely difficult to ride on. Why they used three different grades of gravel is beyond me.

On the River Road stretch of the dike trail, with River Road being suicidal to drive on due to the fact the road is narrow, without shoulders and in very poor condition and crumbling due to the lack of paving over several decades, it leaves this area, which is one of the very few cycling trails without automobiles to compete with, almost useless.

This needs to be rectified immediately.

Mr. A. J. Russell