INVESTMENT IN FUTURE
Hike planned to spark interest in reopening Louisbourg-Gabarus Road
Hike planned to document scenery of Louisbourg-Gabarus Road.
Brett Hanham and Justin Mahone aren’t big hikers but that’s not stopping them from tackling the 17-km trek across the closed Louisbourg-Gabarus Road on Saturday.
The Louisbourg residents are co-chairs of the George D. Lewis Gateway to Opportunities community economic development group, which wants to see the road reopened.
Plans are to document the hike with pictures and video highlighting the scenery people are missing since the road closed in the mid-1960s. The images and video will be uploaded to the group’s Facebook page.
“We want to show how much potential there is on this side of the island along that road,” Mahone said.
“If we can show how beautiful this scenery is and show what we are missing, what the tourists are missing, maybe we can get the attention of the different levels of government to help us get that road open.”
Overgrown from years of abandonment, the road, believed to have been opened in the 1700s, now looks more like a trail.
Gateway to Opportunities is just one community group trying to get the road reopened.
Friends of Gabarus announced they would be focusing their efforts on helping to get the road reopened. Bayitforward in Glace Bay has also become involved and there is community involvement from residents in Fourchu, St. Peter’s and Port Hawkesbury.
A 2008 study into the road found that 60 per cent of 1,700 tourists interviewed said they would use the road, which is the end of the Fleur de Lis trail. With the road open, people would be able to drive around all of Cape Breton’s coastline.
“The economic impact would be massive,” said Hanham.
“When I was a kid we had three gas stations in Louisbourg, now we have none. Same with Gabarus. If the road is opened you’ll see gas stations, convenience stores … restaurants staying open through the winter. There will be more need for accommodations in the winter.”
According to Hanham, they need all three levels of government to work together to reopen the Louisbourg-Gabarus Road.
He said they have support
from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the Town of Port Hawkesbury but the cost of repairs is holding back the provincial and federal governments.
“I find it really hard to understand why the different levels of government don’t want to be the ones on the ground, in the
pictures, breaking ground on this,” he said.
“Yes, I understand there is money involved but, in the end, it will bring so much money back in … It is an investment into our future … into Cape Breton as a whole.”