The Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance is one step closer to building the city’s first mountain bike park after receiving a grant from the province.
The park will be in Queen Elizabeth Park, in the wooded area just east of the Walterdale Bridge.
“Our trail system throughout the valley is great but there’s no place to hone in on your skills, so this will be a very well-used asset for many mountain bikers to come and practice their skills in a safe area,” Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance co-chair Matt Edwards said. .
Thanks to a grant, the alliance reached its fundraising goal with more than $600,000 from the province. Last year the bike alliance was given $407,000 through a grant from The City of Edmonton.
The full cost of the park is $1.2 million with the rest of the funding coming from private sponsorship and donations.
The new money will help the group start construction as soon as it gets a development permit.
The alliance has been working on the project for five years and has been advocating to have a dedicated space for mountain bikes in the river valley.
“It’s the perfect spot because it’s right in central Edmonton, connected to all the major trail systems, it extends from all ends of the river valley and this will kind of be the central spot,” said Edwards.
Edwards says the park will have four sections: a flow zone, asphalt pump track, a skills area and a dirt jump zone.
He says there’s similar parks in Devon and Sherwood Park but he anticipates the new park in Edmonton will be at least twice the size.
The Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance hopes to break ground in the coming weeks and complete construction next year.
