Police say vandals trashing Canada Games bike track in St. Catharines
Published August 3, 2022 at 9:16 am
Niagara Police say that on the eve of the competition, which starts this weekend, vandals are seemingly trying to trash the Canada Summer Games Mountain Bike Course in St. Catharines.
Throughout the month of July, the police have responded to countless complaints of serious issues with the mountain bike course in the Glenridge and Western Hill area of St. Catharines.
On July 9, roughly 20 to 25 trees were cut down for what police says is “the believed intention of altering the course route.”
On July 19, a large tree stump was found in the landing area of a jumping platform and tree branches were bent across the path “in a believed attempt to obstruct cyclists from proceeding on the designated course route.”
On July 24, broken glass was found across 800 metres of the bicycle course.
And finally, on July 30, roughly six pounds of nails were scattered along the bicycle course. Photos of some of the damages and obstructions are below.
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The police are now doing regular patrols of the course route while their officers are actively working with staff from the Canada Summer Games and volunteers from the Niagara Trail Maintenance Association (NTMA) “to ensure both athletes and members of the community who use the trail are safe and free from hazards when doing so.”
They added that anyone caught intentionally damaging or altering the mountain bike course in anyway that is dangerous to members of the public or Canada Summer Games athletes “may be subject to criminal charges.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the lead investigator, Constable Luke Lindley of the CORE Unit at 905-688-4111, option #3, extension #1009659.
