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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknifers finally have an official winter shortcut across Frame Lake. But that's no comfort to the man who had his public trails shut down by the city last January.

Lloyd Thiessen had been voluntarily maintaining three popular winter trails across Frame Lake, measuring two km, when he was ordered by bylaw officers to stop.

Sonja Koenig and her dog Oz enjoy a stroll Wednesday morning along the new Frame Lake shortcut that was completed by the city early last month. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Last month, the city laid out a 700-metre trail, bordered by pylons and stretching from Dakota Court to the Co-op store.

But unlike the Range Lake Road resident's defunct trails, which he cleared to the ice using his quad and plow, the city relies on volunteer members of the Great Slave Snowmobile Association and trail walkers to ensure the snow is packed down.

Thiessen said that's unacceptable.

"I guess disappointment would be the number one reaction," he said.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the city decided to go through with the shortcut based on public demand.

But Thiessen said the new trail is far less popular than the trails he had constructed.

A bylaw officer cited Thiessen's trails as dangerous because its ridges were a threat to snowmobilers. The new trail, said Van Tighem, is an inexpensive solution which eliminates that threat. But Thiessen said he feathered the ridges of his trails which eliminated any possible safety hazard.

Thiessen questioned how well the shortcut is maintained.

"I haven't seen any snowmobiles on the lake and it doesn't look like much of a walking trail to me," he said.

Yellowknife resident Sonja Koenig was out walking her dog Oz on the Frame Lake Trail Wednesday morning. Although she seldom uses the trail's newest shortcut, she said it's a good idea to provide residents with the option.

"It makes walking in the winter that much easier. It's already cold enough out here," she said.