The City of Moose Jaw held an open house on Thursday at the Kinsmen Sportsplex to get feedback for its Trails and Pathways Master Plan. 

This is the second round of community engagement for the project. The city released an online survey in February asking for residents’ feedback. The plan looks to shape the city’s trails and pathways for the next 10 years. 

Director of Parks and Recreation Derek Blais said the survey got a high amount of engagement and he’s found that more and more people are taking interest in the trails around the city. 

“I think what we've really seen since the pandemic, too, is just the usage. A lot of people are out there on the trails and use them for a number of different reasons,” Blais said.  

“We also got to keep an eye on some of the new technologies out there with e-scooters and e-bikes and different things like that and how we can accommodate other modes of transportation within our network.” 

Led by E. Lees & Associates Consulting Ltd., most of the feedback the city has heard so far is for more connectivity between trails. 

Genelle Payant is a resident that attended the open house because she had concerns about the condition of the trails near her home. 

“Where I live up in Sunningdale, I was just concerned with the maintenance of some of the paths that are up there and just with flooding and just general disrepair, some pavement being past its best-before date,” Payant said.  

“I really wanted to come tonight to see what the plans were and to have my concerns heard, and I have. I think it sounds like some of the stuff is going to be addressed with this plan, so that makes me really excited.” 

The Trails and Pathways Master Plan is fully funded through the Active Transportation Fund federal grant.  

The next step is to take the final feedback to complete the master plan. The Trails and Pathways Master Plan is expected to be completed by the end of June. 

You can find out more about the Trails and Pathways Master Plan on the City of Moose Jaw's website.