It’s 500 metres long, one metre wide and cost $50,000 — and it completes the Bedford-Sackville Greenway Connector.

On Saturday, the Sackville Rivers Association officially opened the new trail section that begins in front of the Superstore and runs to the True North Diner at Bedford Place Mall.

The complete trail system begins at Fish Hatchery Park in Bedford by Bedford Basin and runs for two kilometres to Fultz House Museum in Lower Sackville.

"One section that we were missing was in front of the mall. The mall offered us $22,600, HRM offered $18,000 and the (provincial) Health Promotion and Protection offered us $10,000," says Walter Regan, president of the Sackville Rivers Association.

The funding paid for construction of the path, wheelchair ramps and signage.

"The mall also bought us new picnic tables, benches and garbage cans. We owe the mall, our other partners and the community many thanks," said Regan.

He believes building trails helps promote fitness and pollution prevention.

"One of our mandates is to build trails; we’re going to build a walking trail (the Conservation Corridor Trail) from Fort Sackville to Uniacke House in Mount Uniacke. It’ll be about 40 kilometres long," says Regan.

According to Regan, many people use the Bedford-Sackville trail daily to walk or bike to work, and on average, more than 1,400 people use the trail every week.

As part of the Sackville River Association's mandate, the SRA is to build a Conservation Corridor along the entire length of the Sackville River. The Conservation Corridor will be a walking trail that will run from Scot Manor House and Fish Hatchery Park in Bedford to Uniacke House in Mt Uniacke, and span roughly 40 kilometers. Approximately 5.2 kilometers of the trail already exists, from Scot Manor House to the Fultz House in Sackville.

Trail Walk lead by Rich Peckham in the Fall of 2008.