Image: M. Vanden Bosch / PML / Chilliwack City Council awarded a $134K contract on Tuesday (Aug. 2) for the construction of the Little Mountain Stairs in order to create a pedestrian route that will connect the valley floor to higher elevation trails on Little Mountain.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Little Mountain

City Council awards contract for Little Mountain stairway trail project, groundbreaking possibly set for November

Aug 4, 2022 | 6:00 AM

CHILLIWACK — Another recreational amenity for Chilliwack residents could break ground as early as this November.

Chilliwack City Council awarded a $134,432 contract Tuesday (Aug. 2) to House to Home Landscaping to build a pedestrian route that will connect the valley floor to higher elevation trails on Little Mountain.

The base of the stairs, along with a new parking area, will be located on city-owned property at 46963 Yale Road.

The project scope comes with a high degree of construction difficulty as the route is on an extremely steep hillside terrain and involves heavy lifting and machinery access challenges. The existing ground slope of the corridor varies from 30 per cent to slightly over 50 per cent, according to a statement from the City of Chilliwack.

“We are excited to move forward with this project that will help create more trails in the area,” Chilliwack mayor Ken Popove said. “The City’s Greenspace Plan sets out a vision for the future of our parks and constructing these stairs is a true next step to the future of greenspace in Little Mountain.”

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The City has allocated a budget for $200,000 to create the Little Mountain Stairs, which will link the valley floor and the proposed greenbelt for foot traffic. The budget also includes the creation of a new parking lot area at the base of the stairs on Yale Road.

In response to a question from Councillor Chris Kloot about when the project might commence, Glen MacPherson, director of operations for the City of Chilliwack, said there was a backlog of about 2-3 months to obtain composite stair materials needed to build the stairway.

“We should see ground break in early November,” MacPherson said.

Councillor Kloot praised city staff for the speed in which it brought the project forward.

“I’m pleased to see this come forward as quickly as it has,” Kloot said. “I think we had a conversation at this table back in April and here we are, what, three months later and we’re gonna have a vote on this. I was of the mindset if there’s a will, we can make it happen, with the already exciting area that would provide parking and an area of land that’s waiting for an exciting trail system.”

The stairs will feature an eight-foot-wide stair corridor that extends approximately 128 metres, rising approximately 60 metres from the parking facility on Yale Road to a potential trail connection point. Approximately 340 recycled plastic posts will be placed to act as stair treads as part of the project, according to a city staff report prepared by Richard Fortin.

Three companies attended a mandatory site meeting, as is custom with city tenders and requests for quotations, on July 7. Of the three companies, only one, House to Home Landscaping, submitted a quotation that was found to have met the technical and financial requirements of the project.

This was partially attributed to the specialized nature of the work, the degree of difficulty on the hilly terrain, the heavy lifting required, and lengthy time duration of the project.

The City of Chilliwack’s Greenspace Plan highlights the potential for a greenbelt and trail network around the north, south and southwest quadrants of Little Mountain. The proposed greenbelt is a combination of city-owned land and future remainder lands following the development of privately-owned parcels.

The proposed parking lot along the north side of Yale Road will house 15 parking stalls.