Popular Hawea trail on track for $236K upgrade

A 17-year-old bike trail between Albert Town and Hawea is on track for an upgrade.

The Upper Clutha Tracks Trust has decided to go ahead with upgrades to the 12km Hawea River Track, with the $236,000 project set to take place during winter this year.

Running from the back of the Albert Town Campground to Domain Rd in Hawea, following the course of the Hawea River, the track is a popular trail for walkers, recreational cyclists and commuters.

Trust treasurer John Wellington said the work was about bringing the important transport link up to standard.

‘‘The track was originally opened by the trust in 2009 and was funded by council, Doc and partly by Te Araroa and NZTA,’’ he said.

‘‘Doc maintained the southern half and council maintained the northern half, and it means the northern half has been maintained to a much higher standard.

‘‘It is both a combined recreational and active transport track, and it’s a core part in connecting Albert Town with Hawea, so it is important this is held at a standard suitable for the use that it’s getting.

‘‘We’re bringing it up to current active transport standards and the trust will take over upgrading that section of the track going forward to make sure it’s maintained at that standard,’’ Mr Wellington said.

The work on the Hawea River Track is not to be confused with the development of the new - It is both a combined recreational and active transport track, and it’s a core part in connecting Albert Town with Hawea so it is important this is held at a standard suitable for the use that it’s getting. -

True Right trail on the other side of the river.

‘‘The True Right is a simple recreation track while the Hawea River Track is much more of a mainstream active transport track, as well as recreation,’’ he said.

Trust chairman David Howard said the upgrades were about ‘‘providing something for everyone’’, but there could be a short-term closure of the trail while the work was done.

‘‘The work will probably close the track for a couple of weeks but we’ll figure that out once we start,’’ he said.

Mr Wellington said the funds for track maintenance were sourced at the same time as funding for the new True Right track was secured.

‘‘Our key funder for the Hawea River track upgrade is the Central Lakes Trust, and the rest of the funding is reserves and just other small amounts of funding that we’ve got recently.’’