The last leg of the heritage trail is still a few years away from being restored after being purchased by the town.

Niagara-on-the-Lake council approved $3,156 for the purchase of about one kilometre of the Upper Canada Heritage Trail stretching from Line 9 to York Road.

The committee is working on the second leg of the trail, which runs from East and West Line to Line 3 Road.

Tony Chisholm, vice-chair of the heritage trail committee, hopes to wrap up the work on this section in the spring.

Chisholm said he hopes to start the third phase of the trail, beginning at Line 3 and terminating at Line 9, before the end of 2025.

But there’s no estimate for when they can begin working on the final stretch.

“It jerks along at its own pace depending on how successful we are with donations and grants,” he said.

Chisholm said the last phase also needed the most work.

The committee would have to raise funds for an engineering study and potentially for repairs and removals of old culverts, so getting an accurate cost estimate for the restorations was impossible.

Committee chair Rick Meloen said much of the damage to that section was done while it was owned by Niagara Region.

“I’m hoping maybe, when we get there to Phase Four, that maybe the region will would help out a little bit,” he said.

Despite the stop-and-start pace of the project, Meloen was confident interest would not wane in the project, and residents would continue to support the restoration.

“The pandemic brought everything to a halt. But now we seem to have a little more momentum again,” Meloen said.

The first stretch of trail cost about $101,000 to complete, he said.

The second section is estimated at $126,000.

Meloen estimated the third phase, the longest portion of the trail, would cost up to $250,000.