Scoudouc River bridge replacement in the works as Shore-Line trail nears halfway mark

The historic steam engine railbed in Shediac has been unused, at least in any official capacity, for decades.

Locals bike and walk along the railbed-turned-trail, but it comes to a dead end when it meets the Scoudouc River.

But that's going to change soon.

"We hope that by the end of next year we have started and hopefully finished converting this," says Marc Leger, regional trails coordinator for Plan 360, the land use planning division of the Southeast Regional Service Commission.

The plan is to install a new bridge across the 80 metre span, using the old piers that are still in place.

"It'll be a pretty humble bridge, steel spans, and then it'll be a wooden deck with an observation space at the midway point," says Leger. "Because it's a really pretty view here up and down the river."

The span will add a piece to what's set to be the Shore-Line Trail, a 170-kilometre-long trail network connecting every municipality in southeastern New Brunswick.

Phase 1 of the project will start at Fundy National Park, and connect Fundy Albert, Riverview, Moncton, Dieppe, Shediac and Cap Acadie.

Phase 2 will turn that 170 km into 202 km, by connecting outlying communities to the trail: Three Rivers, Maple Hills, Salisbury, Straight Shores, Tantramar, and Memramcook.

"Phase 1 is really the spine of the network, and Phase 2 is all these branches out to all the remaining communities," said Leger.

Leger says this project was first conceptualized back in 2016, and work has really kicked off this year.

"We have a commitment over the next 10 years to try to build out our whole regional network, that we'll have a trail connect to every municipality in the region. That's our timeline," he said.

Leger spends much of his time making connections with landowners to try to get permission for the trail to cross their land. Some landowners have concerns about theft or privacy, but Leger says usually he can mitigate their worries.

"Trails bring people into places, and where there's people regularly, you see less trouble because there's eyes on the street," he said.