A Halifax councillor says they are looking into a new approach as they create a group to overlook one of the most used trails in HRM.

The B.L.T. Rails to Trail stretches 13 km through Beechville, Lakeside and Timberlea. The association that maintained it, passed responsibility back to the province when upkeep became too much.

Now, Councillor Janet Steele says, they are trying a new formula to tackle the maintenance that is required. They held a public meeting on the matter last week with about 200 community members and it was really successful.

“We asked for expressions of interest for people that may wish to be part of a new association,” says Steele. “The meeting was really about … are there volunteers out there that would like to be involved with the future management of the trail?”

She says there were provincial and municipal officials there to talk about some funding that is available to support volunteers, including funding to hire contractors for maintenance.

New formula

It was in November 2025 when the B.L.T. Rails to Trails Association announced that upkeep on the trail became too much for their volunteers.

As of April 1, the responsibility was passed back to the province.

Now, Steele says, they are looking for a new way of tackling the maintenance, figuring out who can help with certain tasks.

“We asked how many hours a month might you be able to volunteer,” explains Steele. “I know that some of the discussion at the meeting was…’well, I could be eyes on the trail for two kilometers.’”

In addition, there will be new bylaws and definitions of roles and responsibilities.

“Someone could handle social media, someone could handle banking, someone could handle grant writing,” adds Steele. “Many hands make light work.”

What’s next

There will be a community meeting for those interested in forming a new board to receive feedback on what is being proposed.

Steele says the population is growing and these recreation facilities are needed to compliment not only transit but other investments.