Left to right: Jim Walker, Dave Mowat, Lieutenant Governor Mitchell, City of Edmonton Councillor Tim Cartmell, Speaker of the Alberta Legislature Nathan Cooper and Elder Jerry Saddleback unveil the Walkway Marker at Govrenment House.
September 7, 2019
Lieutenant Governor Lois E. Mitchell today opened the Edmonton Commonwealth Walkway, an innovative blend of walking and biking trails through the heart of the city’s River Valley, combined with an app that link users to voices from the past.
“The River Valley is one of Edmonton’s crown jewels,” said Her Honour, the Honourable Lois E. Mitchell. “This project encourages everyone to be active along a route that pays tribute to our Queen, our Commonwealth connections and our history. Working on this with the City of Edmonton and community leaders, including First Nation and Métis representatives, has only deepened my love for our great capital city.”
The Walkway includes bilingual bronze medallions bearing the personal Royal Cypher of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that are set into the ground along the trail, and enhanced by information panels throughout. The route travels along 10 KM of existing pathways and aims to connect Commonwealth countries by linking 100 cities and 2,000 points of significance.
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“The City of Edmonton is proud to be the first Canadian Capital with a Commonwealth Walkway,” said Mayor Don Iveson. “The free mobile app with historical information and stories is a local innovation that not only connects Edmontonians to their own history, but it helps to connect Edmonton to the world.”
The mobile app allows users to hear or read information and stories under categories including History, River Valley, Children and Indigenous. This is the second walkway of its kind in Canada. The first was unveiled by Lieutenant Governor Mitchell in Banff in September 2017. The walkways are an initiative of the Commonwealth Walkway Trust, a UK-based charity that works to create paths around the world, in partnership with national governments, city officials, schools, Commonwealth Games Associations and local communities.
"Creating the walkway was vintage Edmonton cooperation", said co-chair Dave Mowat. "The City of Edmonton took the lead and the River Valley Alliance, Edmonton Tourism and all the other partners involved worked together. And then to make it happen, our corporate sponsors, ATB, Blue Cross, CWB, Capital Power, EPCOR, and Servus, stepped up in unison with donors like the Mitchell Legacy Foundation to help fund and promote it."
To learn more or to download the free mobile app, visit edmontoncommonwealthwalkway.com or search "Edmonton Walkway" in the App Store and Google Play.
The Edmonton Walkway was announced in November 2018 during a visit to Edmonton by the HRH the Princess Royal Princess Anne.