Fredericton plans mountain bike trails for Killarney area

Fredericton is setting out to establish a new trail system for mountain bikers in the park around Killarney Lake.

A public meeting was held Tuesday to find out what people want out of the new system.

Brian McKeown, an avid mountain biker,said new trails could help expand the sport in the city.

"As a northsider, I've lived over here my entire life for 45 years. We don't have a lot of beginner mountain bike trails around," he said.

"We have mountain bike trails, but a lot of them are very technical, they're very rooty, they're very rocky and it makes it a real barrier for entry for a lot of beginner mountain bikers."

Robert Glenwright, a representativeof the city's parks and trees department, says there are more than 728 hectaresavailable to work with for trails and that biking has always been part of the city's plan for the Killarney area.

"There's existing road ways, road work, ski trails etc.,so that's part of the design is to fit this alltogetherwith existing infrastructure so it all workstogether," he said.