Each year, the annual activity report for the PPJ cycling trail is presented to the council of mayors, giving the rundown on the state of the former rail bed that stretches from L’Isle-aux-Allumettes to Bristol.

MRC Pontiac engineer Kim Lesage spoke with CHIP about the 2021 report, which was adopted at the meeting last week. She said that they had added nine bicycle repair stations at points along the trail as part of a project involving students from École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge in collaboration with Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi Pontiac.

They also had a granular recharge of stone dust along a 10 km stretch of the trail between the Eighth Concession in Clarendon to the outskirts of Campbell’s Bay, as well as ditching operations where needed.

The trail is financed through MRC funds, 50 per cent of which are reimbursed through a grant from the provincial Route Verte fund. Lesage said that this year they are also applying to the Programme d’aide financière aux infrastructures récréatives et sportives (PAFIRS), a joint federal-provincial fund for construction work.

Though they haven’t attempted a formal count of users over the past summer, Lesage said that anecdotally, she thought the trail had been busy this year.

She said that this summer, their work to improve the surface of the trail would continue where they left off, going from Campbell’s Bay, Litchfield and Davidson.

The full interview with Lesage is available below: